Surprise around every corner
by MAC0321
Summary: This book takes place after Notorious Nineteen, see what happens with Stephanie and what twist are heading her way. In no way do i won or profit off this work. I hope you enjoy. Update coming throw with refreshed chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I'd picked Morelli's SUV out in my parking lot, so I wasn't surprised when I opened my door and Bob bounced up to me. I scratched behind his ears and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. Morelli strolled in from the living room. The television was on.

"Suppose I came home with some hot guy, and you were here in your socks, watching television," I said.

"It would be awkward."

I set the bag on the counter and unpacked.

"Looks like you stopped off at your mom's house," Morelli said. "Oh man, is that chocolate cake?"

"Yes. And I have some sandwich stuff. Are you hungry?"

"Starved." He opened a plastic baggie and snitched a piece of ham. "I have good news for you. Berger got Raz."

"Get out!"

"Actually, he was dead by the time he got him, but he got him all the same." Morelli opened another baggie. "Corned beef. This is the mother lode."

"How did Raz get dead?"

"He escaped from the cemetery, but he stole a car sometime during the night, and this morning one of Trenton's finest spotted him. There was a chase, and Raz lost control of his car and hit a bridge abutment."

"Jeez."

He looked down at my knees. "I heard you brought The Rug in. Looks like you tackled him."

"Yeah, I should take a shower. The blood's caking."

"I could help with the shower." He put the corned beef down and picked up Annie's little bottle. "Your mom thinks of everything. I've had heartburn all day." He unscrewed the bottle and drank it before I could stop him.

I stared at him. "Um, how do you feel?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "Better," he finally said. "Warm." His eyes got dark and soft, and the corners of his mouth tipped into a smile. "Very friendly." He reached out for me and pulled me into him. "Come here, Cupcake."

I was staring up at my sealing. Joe was next to me sleeping and was facing away from me. For some reason, all I could think about was the potion Joe took. I know he love me before and I know I loved him also. But as I was laying there, all I could think about is if I was in love with him.

This whole mess really opened my eyes. I got up and got dressed. I grabbed the photo and my purse as I walked out of my apartment. I got in my truck and drove to Rangerman.

I grabbed everything after I parked and waved to the camera as I waited for the elevate. I rode to the seventh floor and let myself in. One thing I did learn, when I stayed with Ranger. If you try and be sneaky, he'll know at once your there. But if you act like you should be there, most the time he'll sleep throw it. I put my keys in the dice and hug up my purse.

I walked throw the dark apartment and sat down in one of his chairs there were in his room. I never really understood why you needed a sitting area in your bedroom. I sat there and watched him sleep. I was understanding why he would watch me sleep. But nothing could last forever. He finely know I was there and woke up.

"Babe?" He asked me. He wanted to know why I was here in his room in the middle of the night.

"Turns out that grandma thought the guy in the picture was a hottie so she kept it. I couldn't think of a better person to have it and keep it safe." I told him. He sat up, I walked over and handed it to him. He took it, but looked up at me.

"Babe, you could have given this to me any time." I put my hands in my pockets and nodded.

"I could have." Then I moved over and sat back down. He just looked at me and waited for me to answer him. "Remember when I told you I was off men, we'll I think that's the only way I could find the answers I'm looking for. I know I just got back, but I'm going to take off for a few days." I told him.

"Babe,"

"I'll wear the watch, but I need some time." I got up and headed to the door.

"What do you have to think about Babe?" He asked me, I stopped at the door and looked back at him. I just smiled at him. He didn't stop me as I walked out. I know if I said anything I could just make things harder on the both of us. There were to many things going on in my life.

I had the money to do what I wanted, I didn't feel bad about this as I drove out of town. I parked at the beach and watched the sun come up. I knew I wasn't in love with Joe anymore. I really shouldn't have gone on that trip. I know I shouldn't have stayed with Ranger.

When I know I business were open, I turned on my truck and drove to find a place to stay.

I've been on the beach for two weeks. Joe and my mother have left more than enough messages in my answering merchant. I've listened to most, but didn't really need to hear what everyone had to say to me. The girls at the office, called and told me Ranger let them know I was going to be out of town for a little while. My dad also called me and made sure I was doing alright.

"You sure did get more of a tan Beautiful." I looked up from my book and saw Lester, I smiled at him and he sat down.

"What are you doing here?" I put my book said and looked over at him.

"Everyone wondering when you were coming back. At first everyone wanted to know where you were, all Ranger would say is you took off. But he left this morning to deal with some stuff down at a different office. Once he left the code team finely got to learn where you were. I'm here to get some answers." He told me. I nodded and leaned back in the sand. Not once have I took off the watch.

"Wait, Ranger's been hiding me?" He laughed at me.

"Want to explain why he did that."

"I needed time to think, this is a great place to do that. Too bad I still haven't got most the answers to the questions I've been asking myself." I told him.

"So, you came back to a beach to do some thinking. Do you think your any closer to getting those answers?" He asked me.

"Lester I don't think I'm ever going to get all the answers I want. Did you come to bring me back?" I asked him. He looked away from me.

"Mostly just checking up on you. Knowing where you are and knowing you're alright isn't the same thing. Where you waiting for someone to come and get you?"

"No, but my truck died. I don't know what's wrong with it. When I was ready to come home I would have called someone to come and get me. But seeing as you're here now, I guess I should come home." He looked over at me and smiled.

"Come on beautiful let's get you home." He got up and helped me up. I grabbed my bag and slipped on my shoes. We walked over to a black truck. I looked over at him.

"Today's my day off. The guys asked me to come and talk to you." He helped me up and got in himself. "Can I ask, what you're thinking about?" He asked as he drove to the hotel I've been staying in.

"I'm not in love with Joe." He looked over at me. Nodded slowly, then I saw something pass over his face. "Something I should know?"

"When was the last time you talked with him anyways?" He asked me.

"The night I took off. But I didn't tell him I was taking off. Why?"

"Finding out that you're not in love with him anymore might be a good thing. Shortly after you left he started seeing a school teacher. That's why the guys have been worried. We thought he broke up with you." I shook my head. I was pissed at first, but I knew what we had together wasn't meant to be.

"We would have to be together for us to break up. Are on again and off again thing was on the off part. We were both free to do as we wished, but most the part that meant he was free to do what he wished." He gave me a looked.

I packed my things up and got back into the truck with him. He was on the phone with someone to come and pick up my truck. The ride back, was quiet. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to think. I've been gone two weeks and I don't know if I was ready to go back. When Lester parked in my parking lot he turned off the truck and got out. We walked up to my apparent and walked in. It was clean, I turned and looked at Lester.

"Ellea," He shrugged. I hug my things up and followed him into the living room. "What else did you have to think about?" He asked me.

"Do you know what it's like to know what you want and know you'll never get what you want?" He looked my face over and his smile dropped.

"We'll all been waiting for you two to drop the act and finely get together, but when we think he's getting close you go back to the cop. Every time we think you get close, he takes off. Does he know how you feel?" He asked me.

"I already know how he feels about it, there's nothing to tell him." He shook his head again.

"Fine, the bond office is done and everyone has moved in." He got up and headed to the door. "Beautiful one of these days both of you are going to have to sit down and really talk about this." He walked out. I got up and locked the door behind him.

The next day I woke up bright and early and headed out. There was a new shiny black car waiting for me. The keys were inside waiting for me. I forgot I lost my truck. I drove to the bond office. Connie was behind the desk. She dropped her nail polish when she saw me.

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked me.

"Thinking, have I missed much?" She rolled her eyes and handed me a stack of skips. I sat down and read throw them. For some reason, I was in a really good mood. I waved at her and head out. I think my mood was for the car I was driving. I stopped when I saw who was leaning against the car.

"Cupcake," He said to me.

"Jo,"

"You took off in the middle of the night. It's one thing to do at my house, but this was your house." He told me. He didn't look pissed off at all.

"Had something I needed to deal with. I've got to work, is there anything you wanted to talk about?" I asked him.

"I meet someone." I couldn't tell if he was looking at me or not.

"I know, word got around, even where I was. I'm happy for you." I unlocked my car and opened the door.

"Steph don't be like that." I stopped and looked at him. Then smiled and leaned against the car.

"Really Joe I'm happy for you. I could never be what you needed or wanted me to be. You should be able to be happy." I told him.

"Are you happy?" He asked me. I didn't answer and started getting into the car. "If he can't see what's right in front of him, he's stupid. I've known for a long time that he was who you wanted. Be safe Steph." I got in the car and pulled away. Why was it everyone know but him?

I got some donates and looked throw the files again. I put them in order of who I wanted to get and pulled away. I looked throw my purse and saw I had everything I needed.

In 10 hours, I picked up four skips. Luck was back on my side. I went back home and throw something together to eat. When I was about to take a bit, someone knocked on my door. I got up and looked throw the hole. Tank was standing there waiting for me to open the door.

"You know you're one of the few who knocks." He smiled and walked in. I walked back to my food and looked at the folder he was holding.

"Can you work tonight?" He asked me.

"Sure, who is it." He handed me the folder and let me read it throw. "You could have called." I told him when I was done. He leaned against the bar and smiled at me.

"Wanted to see how you were for myself. I'll be back at 9:30." He kissed my head and let himself out. The guy I was looking for was a Danny Sweet. He was in his late 30's and was wanted for things I wasn't going to think about. I showed and got dressed for the night. At 9:30 I was in the parking lot waiting for Tank. He pulled up and I looked me over when I opened the door.

"Too much?" I asked him. I was in a short black skirt and see throw blue shirt. Under it I was wearing a black bar.

"I'm not saying anything." I smiled and got in. He handed me the mice when he pulled to a stop at the biker bar. I put it in place and nodded. "Both doors are covered, one guy behind the bar, three inside, and one at the door." I nodded and got out. I put more than enough hip in my walk. Ram opened the door me and winked at me.

I walked up to the car and Hal sat down a drink in front of me. His checks were red, and he was looking anywhere but at me. I took a drink as I looked around. Lester, Vince and Bobby were all around the bar. Lester pointed out the man I was here to get. I looked over and smiled when I saw he was already looking me over. I played with my straw and looked him over. It took him a few minutes to get up and walked over to me.

"Sandy," I held out my hand to him.

"Danny," I moved over a stool and let him sit down. I folded my legs and smiled when he saw my skirt hike up even more. "What's a pretty little think like you doing in a place like this?" He asked me.

"Looking for someone, but I don't think he's going to show up." I told him. "Why would you want to be the person I'm looking for?" Hock line and sinker. I got up and headed to the door. I looked back and saw he was right behind me. When we walked throw the door he grabbed me and pulled me against him.

"I know who you were a mile away." He said in my ear. "Tell Ranger this is a worrying." He said as I heard a gun. He pushed me away and someone caught me.

"I've got you little girl," Tank said and helped me back on to my feet. I looked back and saw Ram and Hal holding the guy up. Before I could saw anything, the world started tipping. Everything went black.

"We should tell her." I hear someone say.

"She'll find out soon enough." Someone else said. Slowly I pried my eyes opened and looked around. Tank, Bobby and Lester were sitting around my bed. I was in the stupid hospital again.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked them. They all looked over at me. Lester and Tank took my hand. Bobby jumped up and started checking me out.

"Little girl you were shot." Tank told me.

"There must have been a reason for me to be here, why were you all worried about telling me that?" I asked them.

"Because you won't be able to go into the field for a sometime. We were thinking you could come to Rangerman for a while and work there." I looked at each of them.

"What am I missing?"

"Danny got out on bail and it gunning for you. Ranger won't be back in town for some time now and we want to keep you safe." Lester told me.

"If you go back to your apartment I'll be going with you, someone will always be with you watching over you. We want to know if you'll come to Rangerman till this blows over and till your better." Bobby told me.

"I've already talked to Ranger, you can you his apartment or you can use on down on Four. There's one open for you." Tank told me. I looked at each of them.

"How long will he be gone and how long will I have to stay?"

"Ranger will be gone for a few more weeks. Bobby is going to want to watch you closely for at less a week or two. I would like to rape this up as fast as we can." He said and was waiting for my answer. I looked all of them over again.

"Is there anything else you're hiding from me?" I asked them.

"Beautiful, you never like being put on lock down." Lester said. I smiled at him.

"Fine, I'll try it. Now when can I go home and when can I have something for the pain?" I asked them.

"If you want to go now, you'll have to wait on the pain meds." Bobby told me.

"Fine let go."

It took them an hour to get me out of the hospital and back to Rangerman. They got me set up in Rangers bed and Bobby gave me something for the pain. I was out before I could tell them I was alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Just like that, she fell asleep. Bobby smiled and sat down next to Tank.

"What are we going to do, we are along going to be able to hid this from her for a short time. Can we even hide this from Ranger?" Bobby asked and rubbed his face. I looked over and saw Tank watching Steph sleep.

"At less we got her back here. Are we sure it's even his?" He asked.

"Unless she was doing both of them at the same time. It's his." Bobby said, I know it was his also.

"Even if it wasn't, she wouldn't go back to the cop. If he doesn't step up, we all will. How are we going to keep her out of the field?" I asked Tank. He started thinking about it, then smiled.

"It's past time to get her working for this company. Maybe we can do what Ranger hasn't been about to do." He got up and walked out of the room.

"Have any idea what he's talking about?" Bobby asked me.

"We'll just have to find out. I'll watch her for now." Bobby got up and walked out also. "You're going to make him a very lucky man, I just hope he sees it." I told her and moved over to the chair. Every four hours Bobby would come and checked her out. At six, Tank came and took my place. He was smiling and looking happy when I walked out.

Lester looked ready to drop when he walked out. There was only one person who could flip this building upside down. Ranger signed off on everything I had said last night and said he would talk to Hunter. He should be here shortly. It wasn't hard at all for me to keep this from Ranger.

All he needed to know for now was she was hurt really bad and needed something to do to keep her mind off behind locked up. We'll he was taking care of the Mamie office he was spending time with his daughter. He should be back next mouth sometime.

"I thought me coming here, would mean someone wouldn't been hovering over me?" She asked me. I looked over and saw she was wake and sitting up.

"Just making sure you're alright. Bobby will be here shortly to check you out. But there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Oh on, Ranger's coming, back isn't he?" She asked. I laughed and moved over to the bed.

"No, he might be back in a mouth. He won't care if you here little girl."

"Then what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Coming and working for Rangerman, before you say no. Just listen. If in the end, you just want to stay where you are and doing screeches that's fine. But I really think there are more around here that you can do. Plus, I had having to do it." She just smiled at me.

"Alright what do you want me to do around here?" She asked me.

"First I need to show you around, but mostly I would like to see if you could work more in the business part of the business. None of us really likes to do it. But Ranger sucks it up and does it. That's what he's doing right now." She looked at me and waited. "I would also like to see if you could work with some of the clients. You have great people skills."

"Tank you have great people skills,"

"Maybe around the guys and you, but most people don't look past what they see to find out." I told her and saw her eyes soften and smiled at me.

"We'll see, I'm not making any promises." She said as Bobby walked into the room. He had his bag with him. I moved away and let him work. Ellea came in with breakfast. I saw throw the door that Hunter was here. I walked out.

"I've put together everyone Ranger asked for. All she has to do is sign it." He handed me some papers and walked out. I read throw them as I walked back into the room. This was going to get her as close to partner and put her in the core time. She held out her hands for them at once. I gave them to her with a smile.

She eats as she read throw the paperwork. Ellea was sitting down waiting. I looked over at her and know someone told her. She looked worried and happy at the same time.

"You all have to be out of your minds." She said and saw on the last page where Ranger already signed it along with Hunter. "Are you sure he didn't hit his head or something?" She asked me.

"I'm sure," Bobby was laughing. She handed the papers back to me and went back to her food.

It took them a week to be able to leave me along for just a little time. I could sleep without waking up with someone watching me. But right at six there was someone to check up on me and Bobby to check me out. For the last few days I've been stock in bed doing screeches up here. It hurt to get up and down and walk.

"When I said, I couldn't take it anymore, this isn't what I had in mind." I told Bobby when he walked me into the gym.

"Too bad. I'm not going to push you. But you need to start working on those muscles. For now, a nice walk." He got me up on it and moved next to me. As I walked he ran. When he was done, he moved me over to the roll machine. My back was bruin when I was done. But I felt better. I waved to the guys as I headed out.

I showered and dressed. I thought being stuck in a bed for a week, it would be hard to get in my pants. But they almost fell off my hips. Ellea was ready and gave me a belt with the food she made me. I thanked her and started eating right away.

At eight I knocked on Tank's door and walked in. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Finely made a brake for it Little Girl?" He asked me.

"Sure did, what did you want me to do?" I asked him.

"We'll work slowly and start with paperwork, I don't want you over working. So, when you," He said and his phone rang. He picked it up and listened to what they wanted. He put the phone back. "Sorry little girl this we'll have to wait." He got up and headed out. Whatever it was, it was importing. I smiled and moved around his desk and sat down. I never liked to get into the guy's business. But he did say he wanted me to start here. I looked throw all the paperwork and his computer. When I understood everything, I started working. Most of it, I already know what to do with it. Finely there was something I could do with; all those years of school I went throw.

"Beautiful?" I looked up and saw Lester leaning against the doorway. I stock the pen I was writhing with in my hair. "You're a mess."

"That's nice to say." He smiled.

"You have ink all over you face, the desk is almost clean. But it looks like everything ended up on you."

"I keep on losing these stupid pens." He walked over to me and started pulling things out of my hair. He laid a stack of pens on the desk.

"Stop putting them in your hair and you might not lose them. I guess Tank taught you what he needed to before we ran out of her."

"Never got that far." Tank said walking into the office and stopped dead when he saw the desk. It was almost cleaned off.

"It took me a while to find out what you do with everything. But I think I've almost got it." I told him.

"I've only been gone for a few hours."

"I went throw collage for stuff like this. I just had to remember and find out how you guys do all this." He sat down and looked around.

"I think we should have sent you down instead of Ranger. A few hours and you've got my desk cleaned off." He was in awe. Lester pulled the pen I was sucking on out of my mouth and laid it back down. We'll leave you to finish up." Lester said and headed out of the office with Tank. I smiled and went back to work. I was almost done when Tank's computer beeps. I looked up and saw he just got a message from Ranger. I thought about not reading it, then leaned against the desk and read it.

'Are you finely getting all that shit done, I don't want to have to come home and do everything you've been pushing aside.' Ranger wrote. I bit my lip and pulled the key board towards me.

'It's done,' I wrote to him. I waited for him to write back and went back to work. Getting an answer I didn't think he would wrote back.

'That's a first,' He said. I bit the pen.

'Would you rather have to do it?' I asked him. Nothing came back. I went back to what I was doing. I was putting it away when the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Yo,"

"Babe," I swear he was smiling.

"Yes?" I sat down and leaned back.

"No one told me you were released to work. Don't let Tank push his work off on you."

"I snuck out this morning. Everyone should be happy I lasted a week lying in bed. And Tank didn't push anything on me. He was called out while we were talking and I sat down and started pocking around. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy." He was quite for a long time.

"Want to pock around in my office?" He asked me. My mouth dropped open.

"What?"

"Babe,"

"You just told me I could pock around in your office and all you have to say is Babe."

"I'll send you the password. Don't overdo." He said and hung up. I looked over and saw he already IM it to me. I wrote it down and logged off Tank's computer. I put everything else away and cleaned up the rest of his office. I was standing next to the door looking it over.

"You didn't have to clean up after me also." I looked back and saw Tank standing there.

"Most of it was my mess." He looked my face over and was smiling for real.

"Ranger called and told me to let you work out of his office for now. We never thought you would be a pro in business." I smiled at him and leaned against him, he walked me away from his office.

"I'm not a pro, just went to school for business management." He nodded and walked me into Ranger's apartment. Dinner was waiting for me. He joined me and talked to me about everything he knows about the business and I told him what I did for E.A. Martin. I was almost asleep when we were done. I picked me up and carried me into the bedroom.

I thanked him and said good night. I changed and got into bed.

The next morning I went with Bobby to the gym and did the same thing. Then showed, got dressed, eat and headed down to Ranger's office. I remembered the paper and logged into his computer. Then I looked over his desk and shook my head.

His desk was worse than Tanks.

'When I said, you could pock around I didn't think you would be in bright and early.' Ranger said throw IM. I smiled and looked for his key board.

"I haven't got a chance to pock around yet. I've never seen your desk look like this before.' I said to him.

'Half of the is from Tank, when I leave. He thinks I won't notice if he pushes his work onto my desk. I didn't get much done while you were gone.'

'Why?'

'I had other things on my mind. Tank called and said you were a pro with our paperwork. I was thinking about stealing you away from him. But the same thing will happen.'

'You really don't mind?'

'Babe, if you could get his paperwork done in one day. I'm never letting you go. I know he won't either. I'm good with the business part, he's alright. But it would have taken either one of us a few days to get throw what you did. I've always wanted you to come and work with me and Rangerman.' This was the most I've ever been able to get out of him.

'I still haven't said I would come and work for you.' There was a short pause.

'Just wait what we have in store for you. This is just the begging. If you still haven't signed, we'll talk about it when I get home. I know the contact Hunter gave you was just for you to work for Rangerman. I'll walk you throw the real one when I get there.' He told me. There was something he was hiding from me.

'Why do you want me working for you so bad?'

'You might not have known everything you needed to, but Babe you always got the person you were going after. It's not just luck, you have something that very few people have. If you had the right training and skills, you would put me out of a job. I also know you went to college and what you did when you worked for EA Martin. I never pushed because I didn't think you wanted to get back into an office. I also know that anyone will warm up to you. If you parented up with someone and went to a client meeting I don't think we'll ever get a no. For a few years now I've wanted have you start working with Rangerman. Not just searches but everything. I mean everything Babe." He said.

"Ranger I come with a lot of bad press, I blow up your cars all the time. Because of me your men get hurt. I can't do the right thing."

"We all get some bad press sometimes. We get hurt without your help. Normal the only things that blow up is what we make blow up. You've never done anything wrong. Babe your part of Rangerman with or without a contact. Sorry Babe I must get going. Don't work too hard." He said and was gone.

"He means it Little Girl." I jumped and looked over Tank was sitting in front of the desk.

"Do you know that's the most he's said to me the whole time I've known him?" He smiled.

"I hope it got across then, did you eat?" I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"I'm good, are you sure this is alright?"

"He was the one who called and told me to put you here. I would have been more than fine to let you take over my office. Do your thing, but don't work too hard." I nodded and waved him out. I got to work at once. But stopped when I saw the Ranger's screen saver turn on. It was different picture of me, there were a few of us together. I wiped my eyes and watched all the pictures till it started over.

It's been two weeks and I've been throw everything the business part of Rangerman. Every morning I would IM with Ranger till he had to go to the morning meeting. Then Tank would come in and pulled me along to go throw ours. I would also be there for the cord team meeting. They were no closer to finding Danny. But neither was Ranger or me.

Today Tank was making me come to a client's meeting. Ellea had a suit all ready for me when I walked into the apartment. She helped me get changed, then sent me on my way. Tank was waiting for me down on one. He walked me into a conference room and sat me down. I took the folder and read throw it.

This wasn't a new client. But Ranger was the one who deal with this one. When Binky walked in with an older woman, I knew why. Tank and I stood up at once and the lady held out her hand.

"Mrs. Blake I'm Perrier and this is Stephaney." She shook our hands.

"I knew there had to be at less one woman in this business." She said and sat down.

"Only one," Tank said. She looked over and me and looked me over.

"You must be a strong woman to deal with all these men. But a lucky woman." I just smiled at her. The next 45 minutes we talked business. I read that Mrs. Blake owns a jeweler store and makes most of it herself. She was about to open a new business and wanted Rangerman to be a part of it also. When we were almost done, Tank walked out answering his phone.

"That's a man for you," She told me.

"Sorry," She waved it away.

"He's been waiting for a reason to walk out, now that I have you alone. How did you end up here with all these men?" She asked.

"We just fell in together, is this your new building?" I asked and pulled out the blue print and looked it over.

"You don't like it?" She asked.

"It needs some work," She handed me a pencil and sat back. I asked her to explain everything for me. Then made some changes. Tank came back when I was almost done.

"Your only woman here should be given a raise." Mrs. Blake said.

"If we can get her to sign the contact we would." Tank smiled and sat down next to me. He looked over what I did.

"You don't really work here?" She asked me.

"She does."

"I do kind of. Normal I only do screeches. I got hurt a little while ago and they tried to keep me working to keep my mind off it. I've been moving around." She smiled, it made her look so much younger.

"Never let them think they know what's right. Can you do that?" She asked Tank.

"The easement will change, but yes we can do it. Is this what you want?" She looked over the blue prints again and nodded.

"Just like that, I might even want Stephanie look over my other business and have that redone also. Now I've got to run." She shook both of our hands and left. Tank turned me and hand me face him.

"I think before we put you in another client meeting, we're going to teach you everything else. This was good," He kissed my head and walked me out. I walked back up to Ranger office and did the paperwork that was waiting for me. No one likes doing this stuff. Then I worked on some screeches.

'How was Mrs. Blake?' Ranger asked me.

'Wouldn't it be easier just to stay in the office?' I asked him back.

'Yes, she just called me and told me to give you a raise. She's a hard woman, she likes you a lot.' He told me.

'I almost didn't say anything.'

'What you did say, most have won her over. I'm prude of you Babe. I'll be back, hopefully the end of next week.' He told me.

'I'll move out before you get back.'

'Don't, I've got to go babe.'

'I'm moving out.'

'We'll see.' He told me. Then was gone. Tank, Lester and Bobby walked in and sat down. They spent the next hour going over what I was going to learn and how was going to teach me. Ellea came in with lunch when we were almost done. I didn't want her to go out of her way for me. But she waved it away and left.

"How do you fell about all that?" Tank asked me. I was about to answer, then covered my mouth and ran out of the office. Lester held my hair and rubbed my back as I throw up everything I just eat. When I was done, I leaned back and he put a cold towel on my forehead.

"I love Ellea, but I think I eat something bad." He picked me up and walked with me out of the bathroom and back up to Ranger's apartment.

"Maybe it's your body telling you, you're working too much. Get some rest and we'll see how you're doing later. Do you need me to stay?" He asked me.

"I'll be fine, maybe your right." I said and let him lay me down. As he was pulling off my shoes I feel asleep.

I signed out, and watched Julia sit down. I turned and faced her.

"Was that Steph?" She asked me. I smiled and nodded.

"Are you finely going to do something about it?" She asked me.

"What do you want me to do Baby?" She rolled her eyes and made me miss Step even more.

"Papa you love her, do something about it." I leaned back and shook my head.

"It's not that easy Baby, I might love her. But for me to do anything she has to love me back." She jumped up.

"Do you think that woman doesn't love you? She loves you papa, even a blind man would see it. I bet you all your men know, I bet you she loves you." I raised an eye brow.

"You go from fighting to betting." I shook my head. She sat back down and folded her arms. Then I thought about it. "Alright Baby, I'll bet you. But if I win, you stop fighting and start working hard on your school work." Slowly she smiled.

"Fine and if I win you take me back home with you." I just looked at her.

"Baby that isn't something you can do. Why don't you want to stay with your mama?" She spent the next half an hour telling me why she's been acting up and everything that's been going on.

"If I win, there can't be. It's hard, or I don't think I can do it. If I win, I go home with you." She told me. Then headed out of my office before I could say that. She just doesn't understand how hard that will be for me. On top of that, I'm still going to talk to Rebecca. I grabbed my phone and called Tank.

"Got a minute?" I asked him.

"What's up?" He asked me.

"I think I might be longer. Something came up that I have to look into." He was quite for a minute.

"What's wrong with Julia?" He asked me.

"She hasn't been acting up because of me. She told me it was because of her home life. It all comes down to that. She made a bet with me and if she wins, I bring her home with me. I can't even take her out of state. On top of that, how am I going to bring her home and Steph sleeping in the penthouse?"

"Steph loves Julia, or are you worried about her finding out about your Bat cave?" He asked and was laughing. "What's the bet?" He asked me.

"We'll talk about it later, I just wanted to let you know I might be longer."

"Talk to Rebecca, maybe she'll even let you do this. Julia is growing up and really isn't part that family. If you can't get this to happen the easy way, we'll throw Hunter at her. You might have signed over custody, but if she's turning out not to be a fit mother. Something might happen. Steph will understand no matter what."

"How is she doing?"

"Surprise me at every turn. Bobby doesn't even have to drag her to the gym anymore. She might not do much, but she goes. We're going to go back and start teaching her from the bottom up, and then we'll go back to client meeting. I can't throw her to the wolfs just yet. Business, searches and in the field, she knows what she's doing. Most the cord team doesn't even know that much." He told me.

"How's her back?"

"Healing, but you can see her pain occasionally." He told me.

"Anything else?" I asked him. There was something in his voice that I know he was hiding from me.

"Just a little over done herself today. Go take care of what you need to take care, then worry about her." He told me and hung up. So, he was hiding something from me. I thought about calling Bobby then pushed it aside and was going to take to her tomorrow. I know she can't lie to me. I went back to work dealing with the paperwork.

Tomorrow while Julia is in school, I'll go talk to Rebecca.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning to Bobby and Lester sleeping in the chairs. I got up and dressed to go to the gym. They didn't wake up at all.

When I came back, from my light workout they were still sleeping. But when I got out of the shower, they were looking like they were waking up. As I was getting ready, Ellea came in and saw she had breakfast waiting. She was also sorry I was sick the night before. I hugged her and told her I would be right out.

They guys were gone. I eat, then headed down. The first thing I did was log into the computer. I didn't want to miss talking to Ranger. I don't push to talk to him over the phone because this was a way for me to find things out about him.

I was half way throw a search when the IM box popped up.

'How are you Babe?" He asked me.

'Fine why?' I asked back.

'Tank said you were over worked. He wouldn't go into it, so I wanted to talked to you. So how are you Babe?"

'I don't know if I was over worked or just something I eat was off. I throw up after I had dinner. But as soon I was in bed, I feel right to sleep." I told him.

'Just take care of yourself. You were just shot and that can do crazy things to your body. Most likely you were over worked. Never think you should do all that were asking you. Already babe your pushing past the core team.'

'I'm not pushing myself. But maybe I could get some more sleep. For some reason, I just feel better when I got to the gym in the morning. So, how are you?' I asked him.

'Slowly getting everything back on track. It's going to be nice to come home and not have to do it all over again. Next time I'll bring you with me. How's the Danny mess coming along? He asked me.

'It's not coming along at all. I'm considering it every day and I can't find anything new. I can't really say being locked up is a problem yet. It's still a little hard on me to even make it down here.' I didn't know if I wanted to tell him that or not.

'Then don't think about it that way and don't push yourself. Also, you're not on lock down. If you really wanted to go something, someone will take you. If he really wants you, you would have found him by now. He wants me babe, I know once I get back. We'll be able to find him and take care of him.' I smiled, all I needed was batman and everything would be taken care of.

'Then I'll wait for you to get here.'

'Don't give up on yourself babe, I'm proud of you no matter what. I'll talk to you later, but I need to go.'

'Thank you,' I said and saw him sign off. Something I did find out was ever building came with a different account. I'm using Ranger's here and he's using his there. I went back to work and waited for Tank to come get me. When he did, we went throw both meetings, then I was passed off to Hector and someone I didn't know Gears.

"Angle," Hector put his arm around me and walked me down to his work area. Gears was following and watching us.

"Who's he?" I asked Hector. He looked back and saw the younger kids following behind us.

"Good kid, you like." He sat me down.

"And if I don't?" He just smiled at me.

"Talk to boss," [Gears is my left-hand man. Mostly works nights and is on call during the day.] Hector said in Spanish and waved to me for the kids to tell me what he said and walked away to find something.

"I mostly work night and am on call during the day. I'm think I'm here to make sure you understand what Hector is saying." The kids said and didn't look too sure about it.

"Is that what you said?" I asked Hector. He shrugged and came back with a box. He tipped it on his work bench and looked over at the kid waiting for him to explain everything. It took a few minutes then he jumped right in and was telling me everything. Box after box, we went throw this. Lester came down with lunch.

[She still sick] Hector asked him something. Lester shrugged and walked away. I looked at the kid and he was busy putting everything away.

"I think I need to learn Spanish. Talking about me and knowing I can't understand isn't very nice." I said to Hector and gave him a look. He leaned over and kissed my head.

"Angle," Then pushed the plate in front of me. I rolled my eyes and started eating. I tinkered with some of the things in front of me. I was wiring three things together and playing around with them.

"What are you doing?" Gears asked me. I took the drink that showed up in front of me.

"You don't like me touching your things do you. Sorry if I upset you." I handed it over. Hector was handing on to everything. He might not look like it, but he was.

"I don't even understand why you're doing here anyways. We're taking up our time to teach you something you're not even going to use. Just because you're the boss woman, doesn't mean you should be able to mess around with everything you want to." He took the things out of my hand and started walking away. Hector stopped him and started talking fast. Then the kids walked out. Hector moved in front of me and held me.

"You stay, you learn." He said softly to me.

"I was told I needed to learn," I said as I was crying.

"You do, Angle. He's young and doesn't know better. He learns fast." He just helps me and let me cry. I didn't even know why I was crying. When he knows, I was done, he wiped my face off and kissed my head. Then turned me back to my food. When I was done eating, Hector moved my plate away and handed me what I was playing with. He hocked it up to something and sawed me what I did.

"Wow, you can see everything. That would work for corner, why hasn't anyone thought about it before?" He grabbed something else and showed me. It was almost the same, but there were still some blank spots you could get around. I looked around and found what I was looking for.

"You could put a lid on it and no one would know it was different. They would think they were like this but without a wear spot." He thought about it.

"This cost, this no." He said pointing out things to me.

"But I would pay the money to know that I was more protected. But it would only really work in the corner. Unless you move it like this. Then it could watch a door and hallways. In the end, wouldn't it save money?" I asked him. He looked at it and thought about it for a minute.

"Maybe," He said and stared messing around with it. He changed it around a few different ways. Then picked up a phone and called someone. A few minutes later the kid walked back in. They started talking about what I did and the kid started messing with it also.

"You want us to put a normal bubble on it so it looks like a normal module and people will think it's nothing different?" He asked me. It was nice and he really wanted to know. I showed him what I was talking about.

"Unless you're right there looking into it, you won't see the difference. It won't move and there isn't a blind spot. Even here in the building there are blind spots. Isn't three eyes better than one?" I asked him. They went back to talking and rigged up a few more like I had it. They hocked each one up different and put a back onto them and Gears handed me one.

"Angle eyes," He told me.

"Would they work?"

"Work better. Takes little work, but better." Hector told me.

"Before we do anything, we'll try them out. Tinker any time." The kid said and grabbed another box and went back to telling me what everything was. We got throw two boxes when my stomach rolled. Hector turned me to the bathroom and let me go. He knows before I did what was going to happen. I was lying against the toilet sit when someone moved behind me and rubbed my back.

"I think I have the fuel." I told him. Lester put a cold towel against my forehead. "Or the meat I've been eating is bad." He pulled me back against him and just held me.

"Want to talk to Bobby?" He asked me. I shook my head no.

"No, he'll put me back into bed, and all I've done today is sit there. I feel better now." He helped me up and looked my face over. Then moved out of my way and let me walk out of the bathroom. Hector and Lester said something to each other shortly.

"We'll just have to ask Ellea not to make you beef for a while." Lester kissed my head and walked out.

"Don't start babying me also." I said and gave Hector a look.

"No need." He sat a box in front of me. Gears starting telling me what everything was. But Hectors phone rang and he handed it to me.

[Why is Stephanie down there?" I didn't understand anything he was saying. But I know he sounded upset.

"I really wish when people were talking about me they would at less let me understand what they're saying." I told Ranger. I was upset also.

"Babe, why are you answering Hector's phone?"

"He handed it to me. He knows it was you. What did you say?" I asked him.

"I asked why you were there?"

"I'm here because Tank said I needed to learn this. I'm getting sick and tired of people asking. Talk to Tank." I hung up and handed the phone back to Hector. He just took the phone and waved the Kid to start again.

"Did you just hang up on Ranger?" The kid asked me.

"He does it to me all the time. I was done talking to him." I shrugged and waited. He started explain again. Hectors phone rang again. But neigh of us wanted to answer it. As we were cleaning up Tank walked in talking on his phone. He was smiling and hung up.

"How are you Little Girl?" He asked me.

"When he's not in the building he should leave it alone. What's the point in calling and asking something when he already knows the answer? He's not a child, I would think he would listen and understand."

"It was more that it was almost five and you weren't in the office. He's had a hard day and wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. He knows why you're down here. But not at this hour and not when your back is clearly hurting." Tank told me.

"How would he know that?" I folded my arms.

"He might not, but he knows you. Like we know you." I thought about it and nodded.

"Then why didn't he say that?" Tank just gave me a look. Then Hector pulled my chair over and put me in front of a computer. He was already logged in and Ranger was waiting for my answer.

'You hung up on me.' He said to me.

'You hang up on me all the time. I'm not sorry, I was upset with you and didn't want to talk to you anymore. Why did you have a bad day?' He asked him.

'Julia is having a hard time in her home life. She's acting up and chosen to pick fights and stopped paying acting in school. I went over there to talk to her and she told me that my rights as a father ended when I signed over my rights. After that I went to talk to my Roesa and found out, Rebecca was pushing Julia there most of the time. How could it be if I don't have rights as a father can Julia even go see Roesa.' He told me.

"Who's Roesa?" I asked Tank.

"Ranger's grandmother." Tank went back to listening to Hector and Gears tell him what I made.

'What are you going to do. Julia shouldn't be pushed aside onto other family members. Why is she being pushed aside in the first place?'

'She's not really part of the family. She's the half-sister to her brother and sisters and her parents are treat her different. And now the kids are started tearing her different. Babe I don't know what I can do, Rebecca will fight me to the nail just to spit me.'

'Then you need to put the facts in front of a judge. Julia isn't doing good where she's at. They might not be living a mark, but they are abusing her. She's a smart girl and is giving that up for someone to notice something is going on. She might be like her father, but fighting is going to get her hurt maybe killed. That house isn't fit for her and she can't stay there.' I told him.

'I know Babe, but I have no rights as a father.'

'Yes, you do, on paper you might not. But how long ago did you sign those. Where was your life when you signed those? You pay Rebecca to take care of Julia. You saved Julia when her parents let something really bad happen to her. You are a better parent and you're proving it right now, caring about what's going to happen to your child. I trust you and know you'll do everything you can to make this right.' I wrote to him.

'I'm proud of you babe. Thank you for getting my head on straight.'

'You help me all the time, I'm just catching up to you. Now put on your blank face and be batman for Julia. Don't make me come down there and doing it for you. Because I'll just ship them all to a third world country. I think I've been hanging out with you guys to long.'

'Don't think it didn't pass my mind as Rebecca was yelling at me. Only a few women can yell at me and get away with it and she isn't one of them.'

'Who is?'

'Roesa, my mama, you and Julia. Maybe Ellea, but that doesn't happen all the time. My sisters yell and I block them out or walk away. That's about all the women in my life.'

'I haven't yelled at you,'

'Babe,' I could almost see the face he was giving me.

'Alright maybe a few times. I'm sorry I wasn't there to talk to you earlier. Why did the guys pick Gears to be the middle man between Hector and I?'

'You might not like him at first, but he's a good kid. He's been working at Rangerman for a few years. It kept him out of jail. He works closely with Hector and can be an easy middle man and let Hector work. Do you like him?' He asked me.

"I don't think he likes me. He doesn't like me down here in his space. Something about the boss's woman shouldn't be allow to mess around where ever she wants. But I wouldn't want to get into Hectors space unless I was told. He yelled, I cried and then life went on.' I wanted for an answer. 'Ranger?'

'Want to run that last part by me again Babe.'

"He yelled, I cried and life went on. This isn't like the phone you can reread what I wrote.'

'Yes, I can, but there are things some people shouldn't do. I know you can take someone yelling at you. But I can't. I also know it takes a lot to make you cry and he never like doing in front of someone. I'll deal with that when I get back.'

'No, you won't, we got over it. I was messing around with some of his stuff and he didn't want me to break it. I'm surprised nothings blown up yet. Let it go Ranger. I have, Hector has and the kid has.'

'You and the kid might have, but Hector and I haven't. Your special to Hector, he won't let this go anymore then I have. I won't call him to the mats but I will have a talk with him. How's your back.'

'Fine,'

'Babe,' I hated that I couldn't lie to him.

'Alright it hurts, but I don't want Bobby to know because he's just wanting for a reason to tell me to go back into bed. I've been sitting most the day leaning over.'

'Alright, I won't get Bobby if you stop working and head up to the penthouse and lean back for a while. I'm sorry Babe I might not be home when I thought I would be.'

'It's not like you won't come back. I did kidnap your things, living in your penthouse and working out of your office. Come home when you can, don't push what's important. Tank is taking care of this building for you.'

'With your help, Babe, I'm good to let you go and I'll know if you don't listen to me.'

'I will, it's almost dinner time anyways. Give me and Tank about ten minutes then check up on me. Breathe Ranger and the next thing you know everything's worked itself out. Julia is lucky to have a father whose batman.'

'Batman's lucky to have his super woman waiting at home for him and standing in his corner. I'll talk to you later Babe, bye.'

'bye.' I logged out and looked over at the guys. Tank knew at once when I was done and nodded for me to follow him.

"I think you were born to run Rangerman. Isn't there anything I could put in front of you that you won't be a pro at?" Tank asked me.

"Guns, I don't like then." He put his arm around me.

"But when you need to, you can be a pretty good shot. How's the boss?"

"Rebecca almost got shipped to a third world country. After knowing him so long shouldn't she know him? It took me minutes to learn to watch myself around him."

"She can always push Ranger, this time she's going to lose and she doesn't even know it. How would you feel if Ranger brought Julia home with him?"

"Like I'll need to move out. She's his daughter and will need to come first, but I think I might make him get a new office." Tank laughed at that.

"No matter how many women are in his life. You'll still be at the top of his list little girl. Did he ever tell you that the same week he meet you he was going to move back to the Miami office? Not that I'm upset he didn't leave. I would have run this bussing into the ground. He stayed because he couldn't leave." I sat down at the table and he brought the food over.

"Tank he never wanted more from me then what he got."

"Then explain why he stayed?" I couldn't and started eating. He got called out in the middle. When I was done eating I cleaned up and got ready for bed. It seems all I do anymore is sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The week pass, the weekend came and gone. Tank, Lester and Bobby, followed me into Ranger's office after our morning meeting. It's been a few days and I miss talking to Ranger. But he has things to take care of.

"Alright what's up?" I asked them.

"You have an appointment to see the doctor today. I want to see how your healing."

"It's been a mouth don't you think I've healed?" I asked him.

"I still want to take a look." Bobby told me. My shoulders dropped.

"Fine, come get me when I need to go. Not a minute to soon." He nodded and got up. He pulled Lester out with him. Maybe now they'll stop babying me all the time.

"We all thought you would fight this a little more than what you did." Tank said.

"I'm thinking if I go to the doctor and he says everything is alright, you guys will stop acting like I'm made from glass. You all do know I've been shot before, right?" He smiled at me finely.

"But we weren't family then. We didn't even know you then. Now we do, if the doctor signs you off. They might." The computer beeped and he got up. "Tell Ranger I say hi." He said as he walked out. I turned towards the computer and saw the IM box there from Ranger.

'Sorry I couldn't talk to you this morning. I've been on screen all night. I just got back in the building.'

'Why are you talking to me and not getting some sleep?' I asked him.

'Because I miss you,' He told me after some time. I just looked at the screen.

'You miss me, really?'

'Babe,' was all he had to say to me. I wiped under my eyes.

'So, what happened to keep you so busy?' I asked him.

'Our systems have been going off without case, then there was a brake in and we were almost too late. Hector did send me a model of Angle Eye's, if that's what happens when you tinker around in Hector's shop. Go ahead and do it whenever you want. You're going to save me a lot of money Babe.' I smiled,

'I was just playing around. Why will that save you money?'

'It cost us every time we have to buy those cameras. Hector can now just make them himself. For someone who hasn't been in this business, you sure do know all the points.'

'Ranger I've been around you for years. I'm bound to pick thing up as I go. I also know what it's like to want to feel protected. Now I'm going to get off and get some work done, I want you to get some sleep. Don't make me call Tank.' I told him.

'Alright Babe,'

'Bye Ranger,'

'Talk to you later Babe.' He said and signed off. I grabbed a search and went to town on it. At 10 Bobby came in and told me it was time to go. I pulled on my jacket and followed him out. In the garage, Lester and Tank were waiting for us. I just shook my head and got in. They were quite the whole way to the hospital.

They got me right into a room and we only had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to come in. I took my jacket off and he felt around my back. Then turned on an ultrasound machine and started rubbing it over my back. He was talking about muscles and other things. I was just thinking about how cold it was. Then he stopped talking. I looked over at him. Something was on his face.

"I'll be back in one minute." He said and walked out. I was worried and looked over to the guys. They had the same face. Bobby came over and started moving the wand over my back.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Mr. Brown, I believe we've talked to you about controlling the appointment before." The doctor said and moved aside for a younger lady to walked in.

"Miss, Plum will you please lay down." She asked me and sat down next to the bed. I did and watched her. She lifted my shirt and touched something in my pants and shirt. I looked down and saw she was covering them so I wouldn't get gel on them. Then she poured gel over my lower stomach. She grabbed the wand and moved it around. I was watching her face.

"Greg how could you miss something like this?" She asked, and then I heard some clicking. I looked over and saw her pushing some bottoms. The doctor didn't say anything. "Alright guys out," She said. Only the doctor walked out. She looked over to the guys and slowly everyone walked out. She smiled down at me when the door was finely closed.

"Don't look so worried. Your gunshot wound is healed, I'll leave that talk your doctor. Also, your about 8 weeks pregnant." She moved the wand and turned the screen to face me. She pointed out the baby in the black mess.

"Are you sure?" I asked her. She just smiled and put the wand back on my stomach and showed me that she was sure.

"And the doctor should have noticed this?"

"It could have been over looked. If I was the person I would have noticed right away. But Greg problem was more worried about getting the bullet out and patching you up, then looking at your uterus. We'll get you started on prenatal vitamins, I'll be more than welcome to be your OBGYN, but some woman would rather go to their own. I'll leave you with my card, let me get these pictures for you while you clean up." She smiled at me and handed me a paper towel.

"8 weeks, do you think you could give me a date?" I asked her. She thought about it and grabbed a calendar. Then pointed out seven days it could be. The first four I didn't have sex and the last three I was only with Ranger. She gave me some space. I just stared at the calendar thinking. How could I have a baby, how could I have Ranger's baby.

"Little Girl?" Tank said and sat down next to me. When I didn't say anything, he took the calendar from me and made me look at him. "You're not thinking about doing anything crazy, are you?" He asked me. He faces was clearly worried.

"Like never telling Ranger?" I saw a small smile and he shook his head no.

"Like getting rid of it?" That handed even came to mind, my eyes tear up and I shook my head no.

"I would never do that, but I really don't think I'll be able to tell Ranger." I moved on his lap and let him hold me.

"We won't tell him, if that's something you don't want us to. We were more worried you would want to get rid of it. Are you sure it's Rangers?" He asked me. I nodded and pointed to the calendar.

"There wasn't anyone else I was with before, during or after the time she gave me. A week later then I would say different." He didn't say anything, just held me.

"Everything will work it's self out," He said and kissed my head. Then sat me back on the bed. As he was wiping my face off the door opened. Both doctors walked in with Lester and Bobby. They took their turns talking to me. Melissa gave me a bag and a few pictures with her card. They walked out together.

"I don't think it was Ellea cooking that made me sick." I finely said. Lester laughed and hugged me.

"I think you should still stay away from what's making you sick. But this does account to why your sleeping so much and why your moody?"

"I'm not moody." All three of them just gave me a look.

"You sure have been crying a lot these days?" Tank said. I grabbed my coat and walked out of the room. They caught up with me before I got to the door. Lester put his arm around me.

"Ah crap, you're not going to stop treating me like glass, are you?" I asked all of them.

"Nope," Lester helped me into the SUV and got in also. He pulled me to him. "Rangerman is going to have a baby."

"Don't tell anyone, I'm not ready for anyone to know yet. I'm still trying to deal." They nodded to me.

"We won't tell anyone boomer, but even though your cleared to go out in the field. You're not going out in the field." Bobby told me.

"I haven't even thought about it. In the last mouth, I haven't given it much thought at all. I fought Joe to the bits about giving up my job, I guess all you had to do was put me at a desk and I would have given it up." I told them.

"He wouldn't have wanted you to work at Rangerman either." Lester told me. I leaned my head against his shoulder and smiled.

"It's going to much easier to lie to Ranger while he's gone." I told them when we pulled into the garage. The guys laughed and we got out.

"I guess we're going to have to work on that with you." Tank smiled at me. Lester and Bobby headed to an SUV and I walked with Tank. He walked me into Ranger's office.

"I think I'll tell Ellea." I told him when I sat down. He smiled at me and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm surprised she hasn't noticed, what about Hector?" I leaned back and thought about it.

"I think he already knows. The other days he pointed me right to the bathroom, before I even knew I was going to be sick. I'm going to work with him a little more this week and I think after that I'll be done. After lunch Gears is going to show up." He nodded and I think he already knew that.

"Don't overdo," He headed out to take care of his own things. I finished my search and headed down to Hectors work area. I sat down next to where he was working and looked over to him. After a few minutes, he looked over at me.

"You knew, didn't you?" He put his hand on my stomach. "How did you know?"

"Angle you glow." He said after some time thinking for the right word.

"You didn't tell anyone, you didn't even tell me." I asked him.

"You no believe," I nodded and know that was the truth. He pulled away from me when the door opened. I looked back and saw Gears walking in. He pulled off his sunglasses and put them on the work bench.

"Late night?" I asked him. He nodded and pulled off his hat, he brushed his hair back then put his hat back on.

"Some friends took me out last night for my birthday." I looked at him. "I have Sunday nights off, my birthday's Wednesday." He told me.

"See was that so hard, why do all you guys keep all this stuff to yourself?" I turned and asked Hector. He shrugged and was finishing up what he was working on. I turned back to Gears. "Why didn't you just ask for Wednesday off?"

"My mother would have my ass if I miss dinner Sunday night. Then she would call my uncials and have their ass also."

"Who are your uncials?" I asked him. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. I looked over to Hector. I could see a little smile. "So, I know them?" He nodded and was smiling for real. I looked back at Gears and waited.

"Well ones really a cousin. But he's always been uncial to us." I was just waiting for an answer. He looked up at me, and then walked away. I watched him walk into the back of the work area and was making himself busy. I just sat there watching Hector work. At 12 Lester walked in with lunch. I saw my chance.

"Whose Gears related to?" I asked him. He just smiled at me and looked back at the kids.

"Couldn't get it out of him, could you." He leaned against the table and pushed the plate towards me.

"Hector just smiles, now you just give me this look." He laughed at me, turned and headed to the door. "I'll find out."

"Do really have to." The kids asked and sat a box down next to me.

"You should just make it easy on yourself and tell me. Why don't you want me to know, so bad?" He shrugged and looked throw the box while I eat. I was just going to have to ask Ranger and I know he would tell me what I wanted to know.

When I was done eating Gears and I went throw the box. It was slow going now, but we got it done. At five, I headed back to Ranger's office. I logged on and didn't some of the paperwork that was waiting for me.

'What are you still doing in the office Babe?' Ranger IM me. I looked at the clock and saw it was past 6.

'Making up for time that was taken up going to the stupid Doctor. There wasn't anything he told me that I didn't know. How did you sleep?' I asked him.

'Could have been better, what did the doctor have to say?'

'That I'm healed, but there might still be pain if I ever do for a while. Bobby just wanted to make sure.'

'That's what he's good for. I'm glad you're better. Are you going to go back into the field?'

'I haven't given it much thought really, I've been kind of busy today. I might, but I think I like where I'm at a little better. Would you mind if I didn't go back?' I asked him.

'Babe,'

'Alright, I have a question for you.'

'Anything'

'Whose Gears related to?' He took a few minutes to get back to me.

'He's my nephew and Lester's cousin. He's my oldest sister oldest kid. Why are you asking?'

'This afternoon he came in and told me he went out with friends to do something for his birthday. I asked him why he didn't take off the night of his birthday. He told me his mother would have his ass if he didn't show up for dinner. Then she would have his uncial's ass also. I asked but no one would tell me.'

'Because he doesn't want people to think I just hired him because he was family and got himself into trouble. He had to prove himself for me to hire him. The core team knows he's family.'

'But why wouldn't he want me to know. It's not like I would care either way. The fact he wouldn't tell me is the reason I wanted to know.'

'He wouldn't want you to know that I'm his uncle because he knows he did something wrong. Most then once I put word out that your mine. I'm also very protected over you. He might only work nights and with Hector, but when I set down a law I expect it to be followed. Plus, you and Hector are close. I'm surprised one of you don't just give up and learn what the other is saying.' I made a face.

'I'm really thinking about it, I hate that all you guys talk and I can't understand.'

'Don't ask Lester to help you. If you really want to learn I would ask Vince. He might be quiet, but he's a good teacher.'

'I guess I'll have to talk to him. We haven't talked about it and I really don't want to bring it up, but I want to know what's happening with Julia?' I asked him.

'I talked with Hunter and told him what you said. He's siding with you, right now he's working towards pushing the fact that Julia is living in a house that isn't welcoming. It's going to take some time and he thinks if I'm at home it might look better. My life is stable now.' He told me.

'You're going to leave her?'

'I'll still going to be watching over her and Roesa will always be there to take care of her. But Friday I will be flying back home. I need to make things look like I'm stable and able to take care of my daughter. With you in the office, Tank can take care of the field more. I need it to look like I'm just the business part of Rangerman.'

'But you really are, you might still go out sometimes but not all that much. Don't forget that you and Tank are partners. Ranger do you even have room for Julia?' I asked him.

'Yes, babe I do. Someday I'll show you what I'm talking about.' I just looked at the screen. This wasn't the first time he's something about a someday.

'Alright, did Hunter give you a time line? Do you know how long this will take?' I asked him.

'No, but we're hoping the fact that Rebecca is shipping Julia to Roesa that it will help my case. Julia has been spending more time at Roesa that at home.' He told me.

'Why does your Roesa live down there?'

'When my grandfather passed away, Roesa moved up there to be with her family. I still have a lot of family down here also. Just on my grandfather's side. She spends half her time up there and half down here. But she's didn't come up for the summer to be here for Julia.'

'how big is your family.'

'I have five sisters and one bother. For of my sisters and my bother are married with kids. The youngest sister isn't even trying to get married. She's a Doctor, and wants to get her life in order before she finds someone. My mother has 10 brothers and sisters. My father has 3 brothers. I could go on.' I read what he said. 'Babe?'

'That's a lot, where dose Lester all in there?" I asked him.

'His mother is my mother's little sister. My father was Cubin and his is Italian. We didn't really know each other, till we were both sent to Roesa to grow up. Because Roesa is getting older, Marco was handed off to me to make him grow up.'

'How did that work when you really only say one word at a time?' I asked him.

'Have I only been saying on word at a time. Babe you understand me, so I don't need to talk. I think I took that for vantage. I sat Marco down and told him what was what. For about six weeks he lived in Rangerman housing having to take care of himself and worked. He was watched closely and I stopped him before he tried to take off. He hated that I was always right there when he tried to leave. That was a few years ago, he's still in Rangerman housing, but still working there is his chose. His mama still makes him come home for dinner. But that was passed down from our mama. Once a mouth I show up, or try to show up.'

'No wonder you never gave me a hard time when I went home.'

'Just wait babe, mama will make you come also. Most the guys have to go and we all talk about you. Now that you're really part of the Rangerman family, Mama will expect us to bring you.'

'That wasn't anywhere in the contact.'

'Wait till you meet my Mama, she'll love you and I know you'll love her.'

'Ranger,'

'Babe, I won't make you. But from the time the guys meet you. My family knows all about you. If you ever want to go I know my Mama will invite you right in.'

'It wasn't always my fraught. Things just blow up around me.'

'Babe,'

'That's what people always remember. Fine I'll think about it. Now what else is going on with you?'

'I'm done cleaning up the mess here, I also talked to the core team here, and said they need to keep on top of everything. I came down mostly to spend time with Julia. Then I saw what was happening here. I understand because it's been crazy around here. But If Tank and I can take care of things there, they should be able to take care of things here.'

'Do you do that kind of thing a lot?'

'Just here in Miami. There are four partners in Rangerman. Miami was support to be my office.'

'Why didn't you go back?'

'I went to help Tank set up his office. My office was one of the first to go up. I've worked part time in both office. But when my contact came up, I've moved into the Trenton office. I put together a good team here to be able to take care of everything. I don't like finding out there not cut out for it.'

'Why didn't you go back Ranger?' I asked him again.

'Babe,' was all he said.

'Ranger,' I said back, I wanted a real answer.

'I stayed because I met someone I liked to be around. The guys there we're a tight team. But you Babe, made me rethink what I wanted. I stayed because I liked to be around you babe.' He told me.

'You weren't always around though.'

'You might not have seen it, but I was around babe.'

"Little girl what are you still doing down here?" Tank asked walking into the office. Then he saw what I was doing.

'Tank's here, he says hi.'

'Babe why did you let me keep you so long. It's almost nine.'

'Ya so, I've been cleared from the doctor. Don't worry so much. I feel fine and you chair doesn't hurt my back and I've been getting the rest of my work done while we've been talking. Why did you let me keep you so long?' I asked him right back.

"Did someone bring you dinner?" Tank asked me.

"Tank stop worrying about me, I'm not even hungry." I said and my stomach made a sound. He just looked at me.

'I'm still going to let you go, don't make me call Tank.' He used my words against me.

'Fine, I'll talk to you later. Bye Ranger.'

'Talk to you later babe,' He said and signed out. I logged off the computer and sat back.

"Tank I'm not the first person to have a baby. Going a few hours without eating will be fine. But now that I'm done, come have dinner with me." He followed me out.

"From being hurt though, you lost a lot of weight. We're just worried about you." I nodded to him. My pants still weren't fighting.

"Sorry I'll try and remember to eat." He grabbed the food and sat down with me at the table. "Ranger is coming back Friday."

"I know little girl."

"I don't know what I'm going to do, I suck at lying to him. I took over his office and house. On top of that, I'm going to have his baby and I don't know how to tell him or if I want to tell him. He has enough to deal with, with Julia." I told him.

"There will always be room for you in his life. You two and fight over the office and I don't think he'll mind you staying here. The rest will be up to you to talk to him about. We'll stay in the background and still watch over you. But not enough for him to notice. Bobby will make sure you take care of everything else and Ellea will make sure you take those pills when you need to. There shouldn't be anything for you to worry about?"

"I'll only be able to hid this so long. I watched my sister. She was hug."

"But you have all of us to carry you to the gym and Ellea to cook for you. Do you know in the last mouth you haven't touched anything with sugar? Ellea has brought you things, but you never touched them. That might be why you lose so much weight."

"This sucks, why does Ranger have to be a health nut. The next thing I won't even like pineapple upside down cake. Or I'll ask to eat a slide." He pointed down to my plate. I looked down and saw I was eating a slide. I hate Ranger, why did he have to pass that to the baby.

"That might tip him off instead of anything else. Little Girl you fight against eating healthy. Now anything Ellea makes you, you love and can't put down till your full. I went up to talk to her and she's known. Slowly she's been making better food and even stopped bring you coffee. I don't think you've even noticed."

"I did notice the coffee was gone, but the tea she started bring just smells so good." He smiled at me. "Everything smells and tastes better. But if I don't like Pineapple upside down cake I'm going to kill Ranger."

"You do that, Little girl. How are you doing with Hector?"

"Gears has moved onto the harder things and it's getting slower. But we're moving along. I'm learning a lot, but I just know what everything dose. I don't know how everything works. But I don't think I want to know. I think that would be boring."

"Never came to mind to try and teach you that. Hector has his own team to do that and we leave it alone. He's teaching you that, so you can meet with clients and help them get what they want. He liked what you did for Mrs. Blake. How do you fell about all this?"

"I like knowing I can really help. But I really need to learn Spanish. Ranger told me to talk to Vince, but I don't think he'll want to?"

"Talk to him, he really is a good teacher. He'll be paten and help you learn. He's in charge of the range because of that reason. Ask him," He told me. We caught up with work then I walked him out when I started getting tired.


	5. Chapter 5

That's what I did the next day. I asked Vince if he could teach me. When I thought, he was going to say no, and I was going to walk away. He said he would. In the morning, I would start out with a light workout in the gym. Then get ready for the day and head to Ranger's office to work. After lunch till five I would be with Hector and Gear learning all that stuff. Then I would talk with Ranger and caught up with what I needed to in the office. I would have dinner with Tank and we would talk about the day. After dinner Vince, would come up and we would spend a few hours, or till I was too tired to think to have him teach me Spanish. Then I would sleep.

Ellea was waiting for me in the morning with breakfast. Lunch on of the guys would make sure found its way to me. Dinner was always waiting for me. In between if I got hungry or thirsty I would find something myself. I haven't touched Beef and haven't throw anything up or had morning sickness at all. But when Tank showed up with a white bag my eyes light up. I took one bit and know I wasn't going to be seeing these again for a while. It just didn't tease right or sit right in my stomach.

It was Friday night and I just woke up. It was dark and I needed to pee. I turned on the light and jumped. Ranger was sitting in a chair and I know he was watching me sleep. He smiled at me.

"Babe," I smiled at him and got up. He raised an eye brow at me, but I just wanted right to the bathroom. When I walked back out, he was watching me.

"Are you going to join me, or sit there and watch me sleep?" I asked him. He got up at once and walked into his closet. I got back into bed and waited for him. He moved into the bed behind me and turned off the light.

"I wasn't so sure you would be here, it's not common you want to stay with me." He told me and pulled me against him.

"I did tell you I took over you stuff. You're lucky I let you share my bed with you." He kissed my neck.

"I'm glad you're in the mood to share than." I rolled over and laid on his shoulder.

"It's big enough," I said as I was falling asleep. He said something softly and kissed my head again. But I was gone.

At 5:45 I was wide awake, slowly I moved away from Ranger and went to the bathroom. I change into my word clothes and headed out. All the guys we're happy to see me. I did my light workout and felt really good. I never thought a light jog and working out my muscles would make me feel so good.

When I got back to the penthouse, Ranger was gone. I know he was out for his run. I got showered and dressed. When I was almost done, Ranger was back. He kissed me and sat a bag in front of me. I thanked him, but as soon as I heard Ellea, I got up and gave her the bag. She nodded and I know she would take care of it for me. I took the pill as I was drinking my tea.

"You even took over Ellea?" He asked me. He stopped next to the table and I know smiled at him. I was almost full.

"There's something in the kitchen for you. Dose she just knows when your back, or do you let her know?" I asked him.

"She knew I was coming back yesterday." I nodded and waved him to get his food. I was drinking the rest of my tea when he walked back in. "What are you doing today?"

"When you get a chance. I would like you and Tank to fill me in about what's been going on around here."

"Do you want your office back?" He shook his head no.

"I'll go talk with Tank first. He'll get me caught up with everything that isn't part of the business. Then we'll come to you for the rest. After that, we'll deal with the office problem. Do you normal work on the weekend?" He asked me.

"Most the time. I've a little behind because of working with Hector. I'm also doing some searches, I have a few that I need to get done." He nodded and took our plates to the kitchen. I filled up my tea and followed him out. He just gave me a look, but didn't say anything. I held it up to him and he shook his head.

"Never know you like tea Babe."

"Ellea showed up with it once morning and she keeps on making it for me. It smells good," He just gave me another look. I walked into his office and he headed to Tanks. I got right to work.

"Hey Beautiful," Lester came in and shut the door. I watched him and didn't understand why he did that. "At noon lunch, will be waiting for you in the brake room. Don't make one of us come and get you." I leaned back.

"Smell this." I handed him my cup. He did and handed it back to me.

"Is it bad?"

"No I think it smell great, but Ranger just kept looking at me. I wanted to know if it was just me.

"It's not a strong smell. It's also a very girly smell. I prefer the smell of coffee." He got up kissed my head and walked out. I took a smell then drink. I loved how it smelled. I got another pen and started working again.

"Dose she always look like this?" I looked up and saw Ranger and Tank walking into the office. He sat down, then leaned over and started taking the pens out of my hair. I rolled my eyes and pointed to the cup, they guys got it for me when I kept losing my pens. Most the time I try to put them back in the cup.

"You should have seen her when she didn't have the cup." Tank smiled at me. I brought my feet up under me.

"What's up?" I asked them.

"We're going to go over everything that we did last night for Ranger." Tank told me. I moved my papers aside and nodded. For the next two hours, we talked about business with Ranger. Mostly he would just listen.

"You guys do this every night?" Ranger asked us.

"It's not always this long, we're mostly on the same pace. While he talks about field work, I've been talking about working with Hector. But we're also doing it over dinner."

"But it was smooth, you both know right what was going on and bounced back and forth." He told me. Bobby walked down the hall and stopped at the door. He pointed to his watch, I looked at the clock that was on the desk and nodded. Ranger saw that and looked at the doorway. Bobby was gone.

"Late for something?" He asked me. I shook my head no. "It's smooth because we don't but heads. Tank comes in and is mostly telling me what's going to show up on my, well your desk the next day. He's letting me know what I'm looking forward to. I tell him what I've got done and what I've been doing with Hector."

"We're doing that, because once she takes on clients she'll tell me what happens with that so I have a heads up in the next morning meeting. She right thought. Not one of us is taking on everything and we both always knows what's going on. If she's falling behind she tells me and I work with her to get her back up on speed. If I'm falling behind she does the paperwork for me and we get the right people to do the job. Skips come up and there being brought in. It no long trying to catch up with everything."

"We're also hoping you would come home and take on this without. There's the business part that we're both doing. There's the client part where Tank and the core team is doing. Then you have the field work, picking up skips or working with the security. There's the control room and the floor to run searches. For you two to take that all on, I don't know how. Because just watching me and Tank do it, I wanted to pull out my hair and I wasn't even doing all of that."

"We need the three of us to work together and take on all of that together, then me push it all on you. We've only had half the core team working together and it makes life a lot easier. If we can get the whole building like that, one of us needing to take time off or if something comes up, it won't be a train rake. But this is a lot to change and we've been working on it for a mouth. I'm not telling you to do it, but it's easier man." Tank said.

"I think you both let a lot out when we talked." Ranger said, he was leaning back in his chair trying to take everything in. Ellea walked in, she was pushing a cart. She brought a plate over and sat it on my desk. Then walked over and shut the door.

"And that?"

"Steph forgets to eat sometimes." Tank passed a plate over to Ranger and grabbed his own. I handed him my lid and looked down at what she made. At once I know I wasn't going to like it. Tank sat his plate down and switches plates with Ranger and me.

"Better." I took a bit and grabbed a pen. I started working as Ranger and Tank talked over what he just learned. I handed my plate over when I was done and put the paperwork what I was done with away.

"I'm going to stand back and watch you guys for the day. I don't know if I like handing over my business, but I want to see what's going on." I smiled at him.

"You just don't fell like your needed anymore. Trust me Ranger, your needed." Tank nodded, then got up and pushed the tray out into the hallway. He left the door open and I know he headed to his office. I looked at Ranger for a few minutes. Then got back to work. Every once in a while, I would look over and saw Ranger still sitting there watching me. But I just pushed that aside. Sometimes he would lean forward and watch me enter things into the computer.

"You're really quite over there?" I asked him.

"Babe, in little over a mouth you've come in here and took over my office and business. But everything I've seen is great. Now that you're done with this, I'm going to head out, I don't need to see you do searches." He kissed me and left. As I was working some of the guys came in and talked to me. They needed a little help or they just wanted to stop and chat. At five Vince came in and shut the door.

"I didn't think you would want to work with me later, do you want to work with me for an hour now?" He asked me.

"Do you think about everything, I didn't even give that any thought. Five to Six would be prefect. Only when you can." He just smiled at me and for the next hour he would work me with.

"Sunday you're on your own." He smiled at me and walked out. I fished up what I was working on when he came in. Tank walked in when I was putting everything away. I looked around as I got up.

"How are you?" He asked me.

"Tired," He nodded and moved out of my so I could walk out.

"What took you so long to get everything done?" He asked me.

"Everyone wanted to stop by and talk." He nodded and put his arm around me.

"They've missed you while you were down with Hector." Dinner was already there waiting for us. Ranger was standing in the kitchen just looking at the table. He really was blown away from this. Ellie made a nice dinner for us. But it wasn't romantic. It's just nice. We sat down and looked over at Ranger. He nodded and came to sit down.

While we eat, we talked around what went on to day and what we looked forward to in the upcoming week. We in clued Ranger, but he mostly just eats and listened. But before we were done, I started falling asleep.

I watched Tank watch Steph closely, as if he knows when the right time was. He picked her up and walked her into the bedroom. I watched him take off her shoes and cover her with the blanket that was on the bottom of the bed. He came back out, but left the door open.

"Something I should know?" I asked him.

"I'm it uses to happen when we first started having dinner together. I'm hoping now that you're here, she'll sleep throw the night."

"So, she's overworking herself."

"It's more she's she isn't really sleeping throw the night. We've noticed when she sleeps on her back she really doesn't get any sleep. That's where the dark circles come from and falling asleep so soon."

"What about the fact that she looks sick?" I asked him and grabbed us a beer. He was giving me a face. "Not like I get sick looking at her. Like sick she just got over a really bad flue. It looks like she's lost 30 pounds." I told him. He nodded and took the beer.

"Frist week she really was on bed rest. The pain mixes in with not getting any sleep wasn't good on her. Then Bobby started taking her to the gym to make her build up her back muscles. He also started getting to work on toning herself out. She still goes because it makes her feel better. Ellea's been feeding her. Slowly she's been being healthier and healthier food. At first Ellea would bring something with sugar, but she never eats it. So, she stopped. She's eating right and isn't eating all that crap. She's really only lost around 5 pounds." He told me.

"So, I should force some sugar into her?"

"Give her time and she'll feel out. We're just making sure she eats and doesn't over work."

"Is it normal for her to work like today?"

"Normal on the weekends she just hangs out with the guys. That's what was taking her so long today. The guys stopped by to hang out with her. During the week that's a normal day for her."

"Mama wants me to bring her tomorrow. Dose she still go to her parents on Sunday?"

"She hasn't the whole time she's been here. She hasn't left the building beside go to the doctor. We ask, but she doesn't want to. We're not going to make her, we only want to see her happy." He told me. We sat there for some times. "But I think I would wait to take her to see your mama. Tomorrow you know most of the family will be there. Take her when you know it will just be your parents."

"When we talked I never thought it was going to be anything like this. Watching her today, she really is a pro. What she did in that short time would take us twice as long. If not more. She really blows my mind; all I could do was sit there and watch her."

"It's different being around her again isn't it. You both got to really open up with each other while you were in Miami."

"I came back and was hoping that because I made up my mind it would be easy. Then I come back and see that she's really made a place for her in my business. I see that she's happy doing it also."

"She's not going back to the cop, Man. You're already stacked your claim to her, now all you must do is win her over. Open up with her, that's all you have to do. Does it bother you that we've changed almost everything?" He asked me. I looked over at him.

"If that means I'm not going to spend all my time behind a desk fighting with paperwork. No man is doesn't. What am I going to do with her though?"

"I've been thinking about that." He got up and nodded for me to follow him. I checked on Steph, she was still out cold, and then I followed him. We took the stairs to the fifth floor and he opened the door to the smaller conference room. We really don't use it anymore. But when I walked in, the changes stopped me. Everything was done in clam natural color. Her office was a little bigger than mine, but it was done up perfect for her.

"She'll have to sign the contact to get the office. Maybe we should throw in a car along with that?" I asked him.

"While you were gone and before this Danny mess she was driving one of your cars. But I think that's a good idea. The core team gets a company car also. Ellea brought the idea up to me and I let her do her thing. When I saw it, I never thought it would be like this." He told me.

"She's going to love it." I told him and looked around at everything.

"And just enough room for us." I looked back and saw Lester come in and sit down on the couch against the wall. Bobby was right behind him. "So, when do we get our own office?"

"Hey man leave me out of this. I've already got my own office. Anyways you wouldn't last five minutes in an office, even if me locked you to the chair. You missed something important." Bobby said and nodded to the door I didn't see before. I walked over and opened the door. It was a bathroom to match the office.

"We took out the storage. She either had to make one of the guys check to see it was empty and keep us out for head up to seven to use a bathroom. It's took some time, but with her being down with Hector it got the bathroom done." Lester told me.

"Bring a woman into a man's world, it took some doing. But only Steph could really make it happen. We just wanted to make it easier on her." Tank told me.

"Any other surprises you have for me?" I asked them.

"I'll come up with something tomorrow for you. But now you need to go up to your woman." I did what he told me and headed back up to seven. I got her undressed and pulled my shirt on her. Then got undressed also and got into bed behind her.

During the night, I would pull her close so she wouldn't turn on her back. Right before six I was wake and pulled myself away from her. I pulled on my sweats and went for my run. When I let myself back in, she was sitting at the table drinking a cup of that same tea. When she saw me, she looked over and smiled?

Her whole face light up. It was almost like a light inside of her turned on also. The dark circles around her eyes were gone. She looked like she was a new person. If sleeping throw the night was all the different. I was going to make sure she slept throw the night. I watched her pull her lip in her mouth and bit it.

"What to join me?" I asked her. She didn't answer, just sat her cup down on the table. I walked over to her, leaned down and kissed her like I've wanted to. She leaned into me and I picked her up. She wrapped herself around me and I walked us into the bathroom. She broke off the kiss when I sat her on the counter.

"I've missed you." She said. It was my turn to smile.

"I've been waiting for you to say that. Year babe, I've been waiting for you to say that." Her smile slowly dropped and her eyes started tearing up.

"You don't do mushy Ranger. You don't do emotions with me." I wiped the tears that fell off her face.

"I'm stupid, I could always read it off your face. I've been waiting for the words though." I kissed her softly, and then helped her off the counter. I started the shower and she walked in. I dropped my pants and followed behind her. I held her to me for a few minutes, and then we showered.

At first I wanted to lead up to having her, but now I know I can't push that. I wanted to win her over before I took her again. She took the towel I handed to her and wrapped up in it. I followed her out. In the last two months, she's let her hair grow out. Now that it's longer, it doesn't always look like she just put her finger in a socket.

She looked sexy as hell now. I kissed her neck, then walked out of the bathroom. I was dressed and ready as she was still messing around with her hair. I sat her cup of tea down next to her. She kissed me, and then went back to her hair. I looked under both lids and saw they were the same thing.

There was a time where I remember Steph wouldn't touch anything I eat. Now it looks likes she eating just like me. I was almost done and she walked out and was dressed. She was wearing a dress and heals. She lifted the lid off her plate and smelled the food. Then sat down.

"You know you don't have to eat that right?" I told her. She looked up at me with the fork halfway to her mouth.

"Why not, is something wrong with it?" She looked back down to the fork and then up at me. The smile was gone and she looked really worried.

"Nothing's wrong with it. Just never pictured a day where you would eat that before something else. Like birthday cake." The smile was back.

"Don't make fun at me. I'm going to have Pineapple upside down cake tonight." I took a drink of my coffee and just watched her.

"Going home for dinner tonight. You don't have to do that to just get out of coming with me tonight."

"My mom's been bugging me and finely dropped the boom that she's making my favorite cake. I know you wouldn't make me come, if I wouldn't want to. Do you want to miss out at your family dinner to come with me to mine?" I shook my head.

"No babe, I would rather have to face mine then yours. But sooner than later I'm going to get you to go with me. I've been to yours." She made a face.

"Alright, but not today. I only get that cake if I show up." She looked worried again.

"Babe, don't worry. If you want to come with me one Sunday. I'll take you with me. But if you don't, then don't worry about it. My family is different than this family. This one that one who counts with me." I told her.

"What if they don't like me?"

"There already love you Babe. The guys have been telling them about you for years. I've told them about you for years. My mama also thinks I'm stupid. If I take you, I would make sure it was just my parents at first. I wouldn't take you with me even if you wanted to go. Today my whole family is getting together. I don't even want to get throw that mess. Let alone make you."

"Why don't you want to go?"

"Four sister and a sister in law telling me that it's time I get a family of my own. One brother and four bothers in law going on about the woman. The only person on my side is my unmarried sister and she hardly makes it any more than I do. Trust me babe, it's nothing I'm looking forward to." She gave me a smile.

"I just have to put up with my sister and mother. I think you've got me beat."

"But none of my sisters talk baby to their husbands. One that you've got me beat. Are you taking someone with you?" She made a face.

"I'm be fine to get home and back. But I know you'll put someone on me to follow. So, I didn't feel like I needed to take anyone. I'm trying to be smart." She said and nodded to herself.

"Your right I would have had someone following you. But I don't want you to feel like you can't take someone with you."

"I wouldn't want just anyone having to deal with my grandmother. Hectors the only one that isn't bothered by her. I'm just going for the cake. I'll be fine with someone following me. Now how do I look?" She asked and stood up and turned around. I smiled at her.

"Babe," She smiled at me. Then she looked lost. "You still have the keys to the car use it. Your truck died babe." She made a face.

"I know, it just wouldn't start one morning. You shouldn't let me drive one of your cars." She said.

"How do you know it's mine?"

"You're the only one who has a car. It's a new one, it's different than the others." She told me.

"It's put aside for you. You haven't needed one in a while so it's sat in the back of the garage. This one is alright if anything happens to it." She made a face again.

"You bought a car just for me to allow something to happen to it?" She asked me.

"No I bought the car because I needed something to blend in while we were doing some stack outs. Besides that, it's put aside for you. But if you would rather it parked back in the back and takes one of my car's that's fine babe. I don't care if anything happens to them as long as you stay safe."

"I like the car, I just didn't like the idea of you buying something for me, knowing something might happen to it. I can buy my own car."

"I know you can babe. When I bought the car, it wasn't for you. If I did it wouldn't be black and it would be more to your tease. Maybe one day when I know you'll take it, you'll let me buy you a car." I told her. She walked over and sat down on my lap. I put my arms around her and kissed her.

"Ranger I don't need you to buy me things. But if I leave, I'm taking your sheets with me." He kissed my head.

"There your babe, one day I'll get you over whatever you have with me buying you things. Why are you ready so early?" I asked her.

"I'm going to go watch the game with my dad." She told me.

"Next time if you don't want to go to dinner, tell him to come watch it here with you. I like you dad, but your mother and grandmother are something else." She leaned forward and kissed me again.

"I'll keep that in mind." I helped her up and got up with her. She grabbed her purse and keys. I lifted the purse off her shoulder and felt that it had everything in it. I kissed her again and let her walk out. She put some hip in her walk and took the stairs. I just shook my head and shut the door. I cleaned up our plats and headed down to five. When I walked into my office I saw that Tank was already there waiting for me.

"Going with me tonight?" I asked him.

"And miss the show. Binky is following Steph. She waited for him before she left. That was a first for everyone. Lester and Bobby are coming with us also tonight. Going to check over your office?" He asked me.

"Mostly I came in to check my e mail. I have time to blow before we take off. I'm really not looking forward going tonight." He smiled at me. He was going to have fun tonight. He just sat there while I checked my emails. When I was done, I pulled up some work on the computer and saw Steph already had it taken care of.

"We're still paying her the same as when she did searches?" I asked Tank. He nodded, rubbed his face.

"She won't let us pay her anything different till she signs the contact. I know she was waiting for you to come back to do it." I just sat back and looked at him. I was running the numbers in my head.

"I paid her more then I should have then. But now we're under paying her. She's getting paid like a forth of what she should be getting. She's making less then someone on probation. Did we pay her for that Danny mess?"

"Yes, and even when she was in bed she was working." I pulled up her bank account and saw there was some money in it besides what we were paying her, but it wasn't anything I would have thought it would be. I rubbed my face.

"She's going to be the death of me. She works her ass off and still feels bad for getting paid for it. It's not like it's coming out of my pocket. What with her and not wanting to take anything from me."

"Maybe you're not giving her what she really wants. All this is business and you have to remind the both of you that it's business. When you not here then you can worry about everything else. Steph is different and has never cared about the money. Buying her isn't a way to win her over. Think of another way." He told me.

"That's wasn't anywhere in my thinking. But it bothers me that she doesn't like taking anything from me besides my sheets. She hates to use my cars. Worried about staying on seven and using my office. Then doesn't want to get paid for the work she's been doing."

"Only could be talking about one person. Been home one day and she's already driving you crazy? What is it this time." Lester said and sat down.

"She hasn't let Tank change what we're paying her for the work she's been doing. Marco was making more then she is when he first started. Why does she have to be so stubbed?"

"Because she's waiting for you who's the boss to work all that out with. Money isn't important to her, you should know this. If your so bunt over it, back pay her when you have everything taken care of. But you have to remember that you're the boss when you're dealing with her. You need to be prepaid when you bring her in to talk to her about her contact. Lay the card on the table and tell her what's what. Then tell her the perks and don't let her say no. Ranger she's the heart of this building. Did you know she gave Marco a birthday present?" He asked and told me.

"Why?"

"Because it was his birthday. It wasn't a decoder ring, she really wants to give him that. But she did give him a really cool pocket knife. It matched his style and had his hand engraved on the blade. I guess it was the closes thing she could find in that short time." He told me and handed me his phone. It was a picture of the knife.

"Don't think she didn't look. She really had her heart set on the decoder ring. But I don't think he would have got the jock." Tank told me, I handed the phone back.

"He's lucky she forgives so easy. Too bad I don't. I still plan on talking to him about yelling at her." Lester looked lost. I looked over at Tank.

"Right after you dropped off lunch that first day, Gears got a little territorial. He didn't some yelling and took what Steph was tinkering out of her hands. Hector put him in his place, then he found out that Steph tinkering could save the company millions." Tank told him.

"And why hasn't he been called to the mats?" Lester said.

"Because Steph told me to drop it. I'll still be having a talk to him what it means when I lay down a law. He's also family and if I kill him, well I don't want to think about it."

"What the hell are you all doing up here," Bobby asked when he walked into the office. I looked at the clock and saw it was time to go. I logged off the computer and followed them out. I got behind the wheel of drove us to my parent's house.

When I parked on the side of the street I sat there just looking at all the cars. I did some breathing and got out. The guys followed me and my Mama was waiting at the door when we walked up the stairs. She hugged us, then smacked me in the back of the head.

"You bring me the guys and not the beautiful woman I've been waiting to meet? What's going on in that mind of you Carlos?" My shoulders dropped.

"Sorry Mama," She gave me a stern look, then pulled me down and kissed my checks. I kissed her back. The guys kissed her as they past.

"If you don't bring her I'll come meet her myself." She told me and shut the door. I followed behind her, and I know she would do that also.

"Papa," I said, he padded my shoulder.

"One of these day's you're going to learn to just do what they say Carlos. Why didn't you bring her anyways?" He asked me.

"She's at her parent's house and I didn't want her to meet my family like this. I don't even want to be here like this Papa." He smiled and nodded.

"Wait too long and your mama is going to show up on your doorstep. Has the girl even been to your house?" He asked after thinking about it. I smiled at the thought of finely letting her know that there really is a bat cave.

"Not yet papa. Where's all the woman?"

"There all around. Find them if you want to." I didn't and followed him out on the desk. The guys were already there with my youngest sister Melissa. But we just call her Lisa. I hugged and kissed her.

"The guys just told me that you forgot something important when you left today?" She told me and sat down. I sat down also and looked around.

"What?"

"A beautiful woman that we're all waiting to meet. I understand why you didn't want to bring her today. I never in my wildest dreams would bring a guy home when everyone was here. I might not even if I was married. But if she can deal with all you guys, she should be able to deal with Mama and Papa."

"She went home herself today. Her mother bribed her with pineapple upside down cake. You could get Steph to do anything with a piece of that cake." She nodded and smiled.

"It's good cake, if made right. While in school I had some. I can't say much Mama calls and says she's cook my favorites and here I am. But I'm still on call." She smiled at the thought of being called out in the middle of dinner.

"I'll tell mama," She gave me a look that she learned from mama.

"I'll drive mama to your building." We were at a standstill at this point. So, we moved on. We caught up with each other and with Papa. Her beeper did go off a few times but when she saw it wasn't important she put it away. As the door behind me opened my phone rang. I pulled it out and looked at it. I saw it was binky.

"What?" I asked and walked away from everyone.

"Just a head up the cop showed up. There outside talking." He told me.

"You know she knows you there. Don't worry about what she's doing, worry about what everyone else is doing around her." I could also hear him nodding his head.

"She doesn't look happy with him, most the time you'll see him yelling and waving his arms. This time she's the one doing the yelling and arm waving. That's why I called. At first it was friendly, then she just started yelling and I called you. What's Hector doing here?" He asked, I looked back and saw Tank watching me.

"What's going on now?" I didn't even have to ask what he was doing there.

"She stopped Hector once she saw him and is still yelling. Hector starting moving over to her he's walking her away from the cop. He walked her inside and now is going back to the cop. No, he's just walking away. I guess I called you for no reason." He sounded lost.

"There was a reason, it was just taken care for me." I said and hung up. Tank handed me a beer and I leaned against the railing. "I thought the cop was with the teacher?"

"They are, there even engaged? He showed up, didn't he?"

"Binky was worried that he would show up and do his normal thing. Turns out she was the one to bring out the Italian in her. Hector was there watching and walked her inside when he felt she did enough. Maybe I should have gone with her anyways?"

"She's finely standing on her own feet. Don't knock her over already. He's just pissed that she's doing what he's always wanted her to do. Quit her job and start thinking about protecting herself. It doesn't help that when she walked out she looked like a million dollars." I looked over at him. Then smiled when I know he wasn't watching her just watching her.

"A good night sleep and she looks like a different person. Have to say she tried to sleep on her back a less once an hour." He smiled over at me.

"We've been watching over her for you. This time it was easier because she hasn't want to leave. I don't think you should ever give her your sheet if that's what really keeping her." I know he was joking.

"What are you two talking about over her?" Lisa asked moving next to us.

"Nothing important, who's been beeping you all afternoon?"

"I have someone watching my cases for me. She's letting me know everything alright. Trust me, if I was needed you wouldn't hear the beeper." I nodded and started thinking about Steph being pregnant with my child. I shook my head.

When dinner was ready we all moved inside and sat down to eat. There was some talk between everyone. But the food was great and that's where we wanted to focused on. The woman cleaned up and everyone moved on to spend time with everyone. What caught my eye was Marco walked outside alone and looked right at me. I followed behind him.

"How long are you going to make me wait?" I asked once I shut the door. I sat down and waited for him.

"You could have came to me. That would have shown me more than waiting. You know this was coming and had time to confront me. You're lucky she forgives people so easy. Not so lucky that I don't and my men don't when it comes to her."

"Not even an hour later she didn't even care?"

"That's what she's like. There will be sometimes she'll stay mad for a while. Trust me, her temper isn't something you want to get in front of. But normal it takes a lot. Any other person I would have called to the mats and taught you a lesson about hurting Steph, do it again and I will. No matter what your mother dose to me." He nodded and sat forward.

"I yelled at her and she still gave me something for my birthday. It's a sweet knife Uncle Carlos." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me. He was right it was sweet.

"You're lucky she found this, she really did want to get you a decoder ring. Don't worry about it, it's an inside jock." He nodded and took the knife back.

"Does she have a thing for Marvell comics?"

"When we first meet, I would come and go from her like and she didn't know anything about me. She asked me once if I was like batman. After a while she asked me if she needed to get a decoder ring to get anything out of me. She was trying to give you something to let you know that you fit in with the guys." He nodded and was thinking about it.

"Everyone talks about her and even working nights I hear things. But they weren't anything like what she really is like. She came down and really learned everything I taught her. It wasn't anything more than just learning what everything was. But that took me mouths."

"Marco, you fought us the whole way. But you also needed to learn a lot more than she did. Tank sent her down there because she needed to know what she can offer clients or not. She didn't come down there on her own. She hates having to get into our space. She understands that more than some of the guys. Having you blow up at her for it, wasn't right. You lucky Hector didn't do something about it right them. Somehow during the time they've known each other, she's become very special to him. He brought you in because he trusted you with her. You're lucky he let you back in his work area let alone still have a job. Yelling wasn't what pissed me off, Steph can take it from the best. Making her cry is what I'm pissed about. I've seen that woman shot, stab and beat. Not one tear fell. She doesn't like crying in front of other people. Sure, as soon as she's behind closed doors I know she was crying her eyes out. I've been there a few times picking up the pieces."

"She's a woman Uncle Carlos." I shook my head.

"Do you know about two weeks before she walked into Hectors work area she was shot in the back working for me? It was pain full and drained her to sit there listening to you tell her everything. I bet you she didn't say one thing about it. Just to have to use those muscles to sit up was painful. Let alone lean over. She's not like a normal woman and that's what allows her to fit in with all the men at Rangerman. I could tell you stories all night about her. But all you have to remember is you blow up at her and upset her enough to cry in front of you and then gave you something for your birthday." He looked down at his feet for a little while.

"Why does everyone say she's yours?" He asked me. So, he noticed that we really weren't together.

"A few years back some people who wanted to hurt me used her. I put the word on the street that she was mine and she wasn't allowed to get hurt. Then I put the word around the office because some of the men were bugging her. The whole time I've known her, she's been with the cop. She finely put her foot down right before I left to Miami."

"Then why haven't you stepped up?"

"I've been stupid throw out the years with her. I want to make up for that first." He looked at me.

"I don't know how much you'll really have to do Uncle Carlos. That first day while you guys were talking she just light up. I might not know all that much about women. But I know if someone did that for me," He just smiled.

"And if you've done things I have you would be right in my shoes. I'm not proud of it and I want to fix it first." He nodded and looked over to the door. Tank was opening the door. I looked at my watch and saw it was past time to go. I got up and walked inside with him. I said good bye to my parent's and headed out. I got in the SUV and saw Bobby talking to Lisa. She was standing in front of the door. It was closed and I just looked over to Tank. He looked over at what I was looking at and shrugged.

"Is there something between you and my sister?" I asked him once he got in. I looked back and saw he was looking at me like I lost my mind. "Then what were you talking to my sister about?"

"Protected much, I was just talking to her." He told me. I gave him a look, but left it alone. When we got back, I parked and head right up the seven. Steph was out cold sleeping on her back. I got undressed and moved behind her. I pulled her to me and put a pillow on the other side.

I watched her sleep and fell asleep. All night she stayed tucked in next to me.


	6. Chapter 6

When I woke up I was snuggled against two pillows. One in front of me that I was wrapped around and one behind me. I sat up and looked at it. I felt so rested, but I didn't understand the pillows. I got out of bed and needed to pee. When I got out, I saw it was almost seven. I turned on the shower saying I would hit the gym tomorrow.

"You looked much better dear." Ellie said when I walked out of the room. She was sitting out breakfast.

"I feel better. I guess all I needed was to get some sleep." She handed me the pill and smiled. I took the cup of tea and sat down. She patted my shoulder and walked out with her cart. I was half way throw when Ranger walked in. He kissed me then headed to get ready.

When I was done eating I headed down to five. As I walked down the stairs I thought about if I should use Ranger's office or not. But I really wanted to see if there was anything I could do. I made up my mind that he could have his office back and I would use Tanks. I grabbed the stuff that was in there for me and I headed right to Tanks office. He looked up when I walked in. I just sat down on his couch and looked throw everything.

"Can we talk for a minute little girl?" Tank asked, I looked up and saw he shut the door. Then sat down next to me.

"What's up?"

"You can change it, but Bobby seats you up an appointment with Melissa next Wednesday." My mouth dropped and I forgot.

"And how am I going to hid that, everyone watches everything I do once I leave the building. This sucks on top of that I didn't like my mom's cake. I couldn't really eat anything without feeling sick, then on top of all that Joe showed up and started getting into my business." I told him. He put his hand behind me and pulled me to him.

"Next Wednesday I'll take care of Ranger for you while you're busy. Bobby and Lester will take you and watch over you. Don't forget to take off your watch. It will be alright Steph and when you're ready we'll be behind you when you chose to tell him. Sorry about the cake and dinner at your parent's house." I leaned against him.

"Joe came over and just laid into me. He was pissed off that I changed my job and lost weight. The job thing I could understand, he's been trying to get me to do that for years. But the losing weight I don't understand. Shouldn't I be getting bigger not smaller?" He just held me.

"Bobby talked to Mellissa about that. It's mostly because at first when we didn't know you weren't eating very well. Now that you're eating right and working out, you're bound to lose what you don't need. Don't give me that face, when I saw eating right I don't mean the type of food. You've been eating three times a day." I nodded and was starting to understand what he was saying.

"Dose Bobby know this woman?" He didn't answer right away. I pulled back a little bit and looked up at him. He was thinking about telling me. "Is he dating her?" He just started laughing.

"Ranger would have Bobby's balls if he did that. It's nothing you have to worry about, but Lisa is Ranger's baby sister. She's older than him by a year, but still the baby."

"Does she know?"

"We didn't tell her that he was the father, but we did ask her to leave this to herself and not tell him. That's mostly why we all went yesterday. We needed to get to her before he did, she knew who you were at once. It also didn't help that we were with you." I didn't like this all that much.

"They don't look all that alike." She shook his head.

"She takes more after her mama, Ranger is more like his papa. If you don't want to have her as your doctor, we'll understand and so will she. But she really is a good Doctor."

"How would you know Tank, ever had a baby?"

"I've known her a while,"

"So, it's not all that bad that I've lost weight?"

"Steph you're not unhealthy. I know even between meals when you're hungry you go and get something to eat. Just do your thing and stop worrying. Before we all know it, you'll be growing." He told me.

"Something I don't want to think about it. Now I've got work to do." She kissed my head and got up. I grabbed my paperwork and went back to looking it over.

"Do you know where Steph is?" Ranger said walking into the office. I looked up and smiled at him. He saw me and just folded his arms. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Sitting just going over some things, what are you doing here?" I didn't understand the question really. Did he mean where I was or that I was still here.

"Looking for you," He was wearing that damn blank mask, walked over and took my paperwork. Then helped me up softly and walked me out of the office. He walked me to his and sat me down. I watched him close the door and walked around his desk to his chair. He sat my paper work off to the side and grabbed something else and handed it to me.

"That is your contact with Rangerman." He said when I took it. I sat back and read it over. It was almost the same as before, but this contact was for a senior member for the core team. My medical was full coverage and it came with a company vehicle. Then I read what my salary would be. I stopped reading and looked up at Ranger. He was just waiting.

"You have to be joking." He shook his head no. I could see that this was something I wouldn't be able to mess with, so I looked down and went back to reading. There were some parts that were normal for me to see. It was on all the contracts. When I was done I really thought about it.

"What does my job in tile?"

"Together we'll work on the business part of the company. That includes paperwork, hiring, pay roll and shifts. For the first little while we'll be with you to meet with clients. In the end, you'll be in charge of that. That means you'll be in charge of making sure if you need the help you get the help. We'll get together daily so everyone will know what's going on. The three of us will run this company and get it into shape like it should be. There might be some times where we'll have to go to another building, there also might be some traveling. When this building is running right, I would like your help to clean up the other buildings. I might be the boss, but you and Tank are right under me. Your part of this building and company, its past time we really make you a part of it and you act like it." He told me.

"They're not going to like that?"

"Maybe if you were in charge of the field work. But they will be alright with it. You're taking over something that we all try and push it aside. The guys already see what you've done and they will get on board with it. Put your foot down Stephanie, make them see what the core team sees and what I see." He told me. I bit my lip thinking about it.

"What about the other stuff?" He smiled at me. He knows what I was talking about.

"Yearly Bobby dose company physical, that was in your contact and you can see your own doctor for that. Every six months you will have to pass a hand gun test. Vince will work with you and help you pass. When you leave, I will expect you to carry and have your license to carry a conclude weapon. You will have your Rangerman ID with you while you're working. If you no longer want the watch we'll get you something else, but when you leave you will have a tracker on you. That's all you'll have to do. Until you chose you want to go back and work in the field." I nodded and knew he was only doing that because it was me.

"Shouldn't I pass the test before I sign?"

"I know you can pass the test, you just don't want to use your gun. Vince might give you some tips, but you'll be able to pass. Bobby and your doctor has already signed off on you physical. So, next year when he goes throw it, he'll give you a head up. If you chose to just let Bobby do it, that's fine. But because you're a woman I have to give you a chose." I smiled at him finely. I took a deep breath and grabbed a pen and signed on the line. Then I handed it to him and he did the same.

"Now I have something for you. Call it a sign on bounces." I got up and followed him out. He walked me down the call and stopped at the door to the small conference room. I watched him open the door and start to the side so I could walk in. I got a few steps and just stopped. They've redone it and turned it into an office.

"How?" He walked in and pulled me into his arms.

"Don't ask me, they took it into their own hands. They even gave you a bathroom." He let me pull out of his arms. I walked over to the door and opened it. The bathroom matched the office. There wasn't a shower or tube, but it was a really nice size bathroom.

"They gave me an office?" I turned back to him and asked him. He walked over to me and pulled me back into his arms.

"I told you, they would be alright with it. And don't let Lester give you a hard time. He hates to even sit in my office to have a short meeting. If he could he would work outside." He told me and kissed my head.

"I know, he hates having to be cages up. Thank you."

"You're welcome babe, but you should thank the guys also. I've got up set up with your own log in now and everything should be ready for you. If there's anything you need let me know. They put the same set up for your files just like mine and Tanks. We keep paper files of everything, and then we have a computer file also." He told me.

"Will I still do searches?" I asked him.

"That's your chose. I don't want you to overdo. There will be times when Tank or I will need your help, you can always pick out things we can't. But that's not your job anymore. We have people to do that."

"You need to get someone better." He smiled at me. "I've had to redo a lot of their stuff because they suck."

"They suck as you say because they know you'll redo it. If they know someone is going to be there to take care of their work, they won't do their work. Normal I would stand up and step in. But I can't do that anymore babe. You need to make them do their own work and you need to let them know if there slacking off." I looked up and saw he meant it.

"You're really saying I in charge of this floor also." He smiled.

"I'll over see it all, but you'll be in charge of the office and Tank will be in charge of the field." I thought it wasn't far till I started thinking about it. He really did have a lot more work than either of us.

"Alright," He looked taken back.

"Just like that you're alright with it babe?"

"While Tank just is dealing with the Field and I'm just dealing with the office. You have to make sure everything is running smoothly. That means everything. The whole core team is in charge of their own thing, you have to make sure everyone is doing it right. I'm fine with it." He leaned down and kissed me. It was hot and packed a punch of passion. But it was short lived when someone knocked on the door and walked in.

"Hey love birds are you ever coming to the staff meeting or should we start without you." Lester asked us. I stock my tongue out at him. But Ranger turned and walked me out. The staff meeting was like any other. All the guys already know I was working here and they didn't care if I was put in an office or in charge of them. The core team meeting was short, in the middle most the guys got called out. I grabbed my paperwork and headed to my office.

Between the guys coming to see me, it took me most the day to get everything done. I did run a new search on Danny Sweet. I got the same thing over again and didn't find anything new. At five Vince came in and worked with me. At six I cleaned up and sat back in my chair. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up when someone picked me up.

"Uh?"

"Waking up?" Tank asked me. I just leaned against him. He walked me up to the fifth floor and sat me down at the table.

"That smells good." I said and started waking up.

"Good, you need to eat." I looked around and saw we were missing someone. "He's been on the phone most the day." I waited till he sat down.

"With?"

"Hunter dropped the boom to Rebecca and she flipped out. But Kevin is ready and very willing to sign over his custody back to Ranger. Julia is becoming too much for them to handle and when they found out that they won't be getting any more money from Ranger, he's very willing to do the right thing. Rebecca won't move an inch, at the same time Julia isn't even there. She's with Roesa."

"How bad is it getting?"

"Ranger is staying as clam as he can. But Rebecca is throwing a fit like a two year old. When she found out about the money, she lost it. But there wasn't anywhere that he has to give her money. He did because he wanted Julia to have a good life. Hunter is giving it his best and if Kevin dose sign Julia over, Ranger's own already." I nodded and was worried.

"How's Julia doing throw all this."

"I don't know little girl, but I know it's hard on her knowing her parents don't want her and they only reason she can't have a better life is because her mother wants Ranger money." I felt really bad. We started eating and I was thinking about it. I just felt like I needed to do something about it.

I pushed that side to deal with business. When we were done, we cleaned up and he left. I gave him a few minutes then headed down also. I shut my door and looked up everything I could on Julia. It took some doing but I finely found Rosea's phone number. I dialed it the number as I put my feet under me and leaned back.

[Hello,] An older lady said over the phone.

[Hello is Julia there and can I talk to her for a few minutes?] I asked back.

[Who is this and why do you want to talk to my Grandbaby?] I only got most of what she said. But I understood the tone. She was worried that I would hurt someone in her family.

[I'm Stephanie Plum, I know your Carlos. I just want to make sure, Uh.] I stopped and thought about the word I needed. [I wanted to make sure she alright.] There was a long pause.

"Hello?" A beautiful young lady's voice said.

"Julia its Steph."

"Hi Steph, you really surprised my Nana Roesa. Is everything ok, did my dad get hurt?" She asked me.

"Your dad is or should be in perfect health. He doesn't even know I'm calling and would like to just keep this between us. He did tell me what's been going on a few weeks ago, and today he's been locked in his office. I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were alright." I heard her sniffle.

"He called me earlier, but I already knew most of what's going on."

"Ah honey I'm sorry, being stuck between your parents fighting is hard and it can be hurtful if you over hear the wrong thing. But I know even with everything that's going on, your Mother really dose love you. Her heads just not on right, right now."

"She only wants money." She was crying for real now.

"She's got used to having your dad give her money. But what she forgot was, he gave her money for you. Just in case you needed or wanted things. It was never just for her. It shouldn't have been about the money, it should be about you."

"Why can't she understand that?"

"I don't know honey. Now that I said all that, I'm going to ask you if you need anything. Do you have money, are you getting what you need?"

"Yes, dad talked to me about this earlier and made sure also." I nodded.

"He tends to think about everything, doesn't he? But I'm not just asking about money. Do you have clothes, is your Nana taking good care of you?"

"Don't let her hear that, but yes she is."

"Good, now your dad told me you were fighting?" She was quite for a little while.

"I just wanted someone to notice me. Dad did right away and came to see what was going on. But my parents just told me to act right and get with the program. They didn't even ask if I was alright. Then I started flunking out of my classes and they dropped me off with Nana." She told me and was really upset about it.

"Are you still fighting?" I asked her.

"No, Nana Roesa has a strong belief against that. You don't want to cross her." I smiled.

"What about school? I don't want to get all grown up on you. But school is very important." I knew right away she didn't want to answer me. "I'm not getting mad at you and I won't judge you. I really am just calling to see how you are."

"I know it's important. I'm trying to catch up, but it's like my teacher gave up on me just like my parents. I can't do anything right,"

"No honey, you're doing the right thing. There doing the wrong thing. I remember what it was like being your age and knowing my mother didn't like what she saw when she looked at me. All you have to worry about is if you give up on yourself. No one else matters. Do you best and I know that's all that needs to be done. Never worry about trying to fit the mold anyone makes for you."

"Why can't everyone be like you?" She was crying all out now. I gave her a few minutes to calm down.

"Honey, are you going to be alright?"

"I think so, will you mind if I call you if I need to talk?"

"Not at all, no matter what I'll always be here to listen. There might be sometimes I tell you what I think, but I'll listen first. I'm really sorry you got stuck in the middle of all this."

"Do you think I'll ever be able to come live with dad?"

"I don't know honey, but I do know your dad will never give up on you. If that means making your parents shape up or have you come be with him. If things get too much. Just take a step back and let everything pass over you. This might be able you, but it isn't because of you. I'm going to let you go but call me if you need to talk."

"Thank you, Steph."

"You're welcome," I made sure she got my cell phone number and she already knew the office number. We said our good byes and I hung up the phone. Then I saw Ranger. He was leaning against the doorframe, he was wearing that damn blank face and I didn't know how he felt about me butting into his family mess.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked and bit my lip.

"A while, I'm surprised Roesa even let you talk to Julia." He said.

"I dropped your name and the phone was passed over. Will you please drop the face already?" He pushed off the doorframe and walked over to me. I watched him and he turned my chair and knelled in front of me.

"Never stop surprising me." He leaned forward and kissed me, it was different from anything else before.

"You're not mad?"

"That you cared, you didn't call her up to promise anything. Even there at the end you didn't granite anything. You reassured her that I'll make everything right, but didn't make up anything and didn't lie to her. You just did what I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Babe you called her to make sure she was fine, you made sure she understood what was going on. Then told her that I'll make sure everything is dealt with. You got on her level and helped her."

"I didn't want her to feel she's just being pushed aside, even though that's what is happening." He wiped the tears off my checks.

"Thank you,"

"Did anything good come out of your phone calls?"

"Kevin is going to sign over custody to me. Next week I'm going to fly down and deal with that with him. He's trying to get Rebecca to get on board. But I know I'm going to have to go to court for this. That means I'm going to be flying in and out trying to deal with all this. Hunter is already talking to their lawyer."

"Why don't you just stay there and deal with that."

"Because I have a business to run here. I know you and Tank can deal with it, but I don't want to make you. I also don't want it to look like I can move there. In the end Rebecca, will have to make a chose. If she pushes to far, I'll fly Roesa up here and make her take care of Julia on her own."

"Won't that be hard on Julia?"

"Yes, but Kevin has already made up his mind. He's not siding with his wife, that will make it easy for me and hard for Rebecca. She's use to getting everything she wants. I just wanted you to know that I'll be in and out a lot till this is being taken care of." I nodded.

"Just get it taken care of. Tank and I will take care of this." He leaned forward again and kissed me. Picket me up and walked out with me. I leaned against him and felt safe.

[Do you know how lucky I am to have you?] He said softly to me when he laid me down. These were the times I was so glad that Victor is helping me. I helped him undress me and got into the bed. He moved behind me and pulled me to him.

As I was falling asleep I felt him move a pillow in front of me and pulled me to him. Tomorrow I was going to have to ask him about that.


	7. Chapter 7

For the last two months, I've been in and out of both buildings taking care of mess. Rebecca wanted to fight me every inch. She's been on her own for the last mouth. Roesa let me fly her up to be with the family. That meant I stayed down there more to make sure Julia was being taken care of.

I just got back to Trenton and will be here for a week taking care of the business I've let get away from me. Somewhere in there I was going to get Steph to go on a date with me. I've tried to come back at less a few days every week.

Tank and Steph have pitched in and taken care of everything for me while I've been gone. But she's got busy this last week with some client's and things just got out of hand. Tank called earlier and said she finely snapped at the guys and laid into a few of them good for slacking off.

I parked in my spot and headed up the stairs. I stopped in Steph's office and my mouth just dropped open. It was a mess. I walked over to her desk and started looking throw everything.

"I wouldn't mess up anything boss, she has everything just how she likes it." I looked back and saw Carl standing in the doorway looking worried.

"How does she find anything?" I asked him.

"That all new, it started showing up yesterday. Her and Tank were talking earlier when Clay came in and dropped a stack of files on her desk and everything went flying she got kind of upset. I would just leave it all like that, or fix anything you moved." He told me.

"What was the stack?"

"Screeches, so far it's been easy for him to push everything on her. But you could see she's been getting mad about it. Him just coming in like he owned the place and messing up everything she blow. She grabbed the stack and throw them in his cubicle. He just stood there dumb founded, then went after her and tried to put her in her place. She wouldn't stand for it and I swear you could hear her throw the whole building. When she was done, she told him to clean up his mess and go home for the rest of the day. But he had to work over the weekend and catch up. If he wasn't done before Monday, he's fired." I smiled.

"Good, he's stupid to push her limit. Anything else I should know?"

"No,"

"Thanks for giving me a head up, if you didn't come in I would have cleaned up for her." He nodded and went back to his post. I left everything how it was and headed to my office. My desk was spotless. When I left, I left stacks of paperwork? Everything was taken care of. I looked into Tank's office and saw he's desk had a few things on it, it wasn't to clean up after me. I was going to get some answers out of a woman who should be sleeping in my bed.

When I got up stairs Steph was sleeping, she had pillows tucked all around her. She asked me once about that and I just told her she sleep better. I took a fast shower then moved in behind her. I pulled her to me and kissed the back of her head.

I knew Ranger was coming home, but I thought I was going to be tomorrow. I moved away from him and got dressed to go down to the gym. I've gained my weight back and I don't look pregnant yet. It just looks like I have a little stomach again.

I was worried Ranger would notice and he would ask me about it. I got back up stairs and Ranger was still sleeping. I took a nice long shower and got out. There was a cup of tea and pill waiting for me. Ellea is always looking out for me.

I pulled my hair up and throw on some stretch pants, tee shirt and hoddie. I haven't been working on the weekend and I was just going in to catch up on everything. Tank had a date last night so our meeting was early. When I walked out of the room Ranger was still asleep.

I grabbed my plate and headed down to my office. I sat down and eat while I logged into the computer and grabbed a stack of papers. I got done with off the business paperwork. I've been taking care of both sides, it's been hard to do that and keep up with everything else. But I didn't want Ranger to come home and have to deal with it.

I've been meeting with a lot of client's and right now I'm in the middle of a huge project. When everything was off my desk besides that, I sat back and took a breath. Then got up and started looking throw the papers again. I walked around the desk making new stacks. Someone knocked on my door.

"Busy." I yelled out.

"You shouldn't be, what are you doing down here babe?" I rolled my eyes and leaned against the desk.

"I think the term busy would tell you enough." He came over, took the paper out of my hand, picked me up and walked me over to the couch.

"It's the weekend, what are you doing down here."

"I have a project to get done and after Clay coming in here fucking up everything, I'm trying to piece it all back together." He turned me, so I was sitting on him.

"You did my work babe,"

"It was there and I needed things out of it to do my work, so I just got it taken care of. Ranger I really need to get this done."

"Then I'll help you," He got up with me and put me on my feet.

While I went throw everything I was explaining to him what was going on. He would ask a few things and read a few things, but mostly stayed out of my way. I stopped a few times to use the bathroom and found something to eat. But at noon, Tank came in with lunch for everyone. These past few weeks I've been eating some crazy things. Most the time I just ask Ellea for it, but if I know one of the guys were out I would text them and ask them for something. I stopped what I was doing at once.

"Thanks, how was the date?" I asked him. He raised the eye brow and pulled out his sub and passed Ranger his food. I pulled out my sub and saw it was right. Banana, pickle and tuna with cheater cheese.

"Got anywhere here?" He asked me.

"Paperwork's done and put away. I've lost that search you gave me someone, I think Clay might have it. Blue prints are done and Hector looked them over last night. I'm going from there." He nodded and Throw away his garbage.

"I'll go talk to Clay and put him right on it, I need it by Monday." He got up and walked out.

"He won't even tell me who he was going out on a date with. Do you know?" I asked Ranger. He smiled and shook his head no. I only eat half, but I was full. I put it aside and started getting everything together.

[These are the last over the over views.] I looked up and saw Hector with a stack of papers. I just rubbed my face and pointed to where he should put them.

"Remind me next time to just say no, this is more work than it's worth." I told him. He sat down in front of my desk.

[It wouldn't be too much work if Clay didn't fuck it up. It was easy till he got in the way. Is that everything you need?]

"I won't know till I'm done putting everything together. I'll let you know if I need anymore." He nodded and looked over at my sub. I just rolled my eyes and waved him out.

"Babe?"

"I told you I was working with Vince. I can understand better than I can speck it. Hector can understand English, but doesn't see the reason to learn how to speck it. Julia called me yesterday. She's really upset with what's going on and Rebecca taking everything out on her. Kevin is trying to get between them, but it's still a lot to deal with it." I told him.

"I know, it's almost over. Rebecca had her chance to do the right thing, now we put it in front of a judge. I'll find out next Friday what happens. Even Rebecca's lawyer is fighting on my side. I'm going to help you with this, and then I'm kicking you out of the office. Monday, you can come back." I rolled my eyes again.

"Fine,"

"Will you do something else for me babe?" I put my sub down and nodded. "Will you go out with me tomorrow? I still had food in my mouth and just nodded. He smiled for real now and got to work. He did most the work and before I know it, everything was down.

"How did you do that?" I asked him. He just winked at me and helped me up. I took the hand he held out for me and we headed up stairs. We sat down and watched some movies together. The rest of the day, I leaned against him and he held me. When I was, tired I got up and headed into the room. I wasn't thinking and just undressed. When I had, my shirt pulled over my head I saw Ranger watching me. I don't think he even noticed the difference in my stomach. I still couldn't bring myself to tell him. Lisa told me that soon I'll really start to show and I won't be able to hide it much longer.

"You don't have to come to bed with me." I told him.

"Babe," He got undressed and got into bed with me. He tucked the pillows next to me and held me.

"Where are, we going?" I asked him.

"You'll see, get some sleep babe." I did just that. But it was short lived, a few hours later I had to get up and pee. When I was heading back to the bed I got hungry. I headed into the kitchen and looked around for something that I would want to eat. I really needed to go shopping with Ellea soon. I headed back to bed, and then remember Lester always had something I like to eat.

I turned and headed out.

I was sitting at his bar in the middle of a jar of pickles when the lights turned on.

"Beautiful?" He asked and sat down next to me.

"You always have food, I tried to be quite." He got up and grabbed a few things and put them in front of me then sat back down.

"How's the baby?"

"Can't make up its damn mind. Sugar and beef are still out. But it's mixing my tease and Rangers. I have to pee almost every hour and can't stop eating the weirdest food." He pointed and showed me I was bunking my pickles in sour cream. I just shrugged and keep on eating.

"Bobby say's your showing." I stock the pickle in my mouth and got up. I pulled my shirt up and slowed him. He put his hand on my stomach and felt it. His hand was bigger than my whole stomach.

"Lisa said I should be popping out now, I'm still scared to tell Ranger." He nodded and pulled my shirt back down.

"He's going to start to notice though babe." I just froze, Lester moved off and left me alone. I turned around slowly and saw Ranger leaning against the wall by the door.

"What gave me away?" I asked him. He raised an eye brow.

"Where should I start? Besides your moods, sleeping and eating habits. The company is paying your doctor bills. It's wasn't something that would have been important, if you weren't going to my sister. Her name popped up and I knew what kind of doctor you were going to. Lisa might be able to hide it from me, but she can't lie out right to me. You thought babe, I never thought you could lie to me." My eyes tear up and I put my pickle down.

"I never lied to you." I would have left, if he wasn't standing in front of the door. I turned and walked more into Lester's apartment. I slammed the guess door behind me and locked the door.

"You did it now man," Lester said, I licked off my fingers and sat down on the bed wiping my eyes off.

"I didn't do anything." I grabbed a pillow and held it to me.

"She's been looking for a way to tell you for three mouths, but something always comes up in your life. For you to come in here and tell her that she lied to you, you fucked up." I heard Lester say and then heard him go in his bedroom. I can't believe this whole time he's known and hasn't told me.

"Babe, open the door." Ranger asked softly. I didn't answer him. I lay down and pulled the blankets over myself. I know the lock door wouldn't stop him for long. He finely got the door open and just picked me up. As he was walking out, he stopped at the bar and waited for me to pick up my pickle. I smiled as I was chowing on it.

"You could have told me." I told him and looked up.

"I could say the same thing, Baby." He held me closer.

"Ranger this isn't anything you ever wanted. You don't want a relationship or another family. You're still fighting for the first one. How could I tell you this, when I know it's something you don't even want?"

"Babe I told you I've done some stupid things when you're involved. Don't you think if I didn't want this I wouldn't still be coming back ever week just to be with you?" I sat me on my feet in the bathroom to wash off my hands. "Babe I can't seem to do the right thing with you. I wanted to take you out tomorrow and show you everything I can't say. Babe I love you and always have." I just broke down. He picked me up and sat down and just held me.

"Babe?" He asked when I was quite too long. I think he thought I feel back to sleep.

"What do you want from me now?" I asked him.

"Anything you'll give me babe. I never thought you would be willing to be more with me then this babe. When I found out you were carrying my child I didn't know what to do. I was over joy, but I didn't know if that was something you could live with. You never wanted to get remarried or be a mother." I sat up and looked at him.

"I could say the same thing to you." He wiped off my face and gave me a soft smile.

"For two smart people, we sure don't know how to use our heads. I'm sorry I've miss lead you babe."

"All I've wanted was you for the longest time. When I found out I was pregnant I didn't know what to do, besides to keep it. I've been so worried what you would say." He smiled at me.

"Babe you never have to worry about telling me anything, even if you don't think I'll like it, still come to me and talk to me. I'm sorry I gave you the feeling you couldn't tell me anything. Now that you know that I know can I see?" He asked me. I smiled right away and pulled the shirt out of the way. He laid his hand over the small bump and his whole face soften.

"Ranger I love you." He pulled me to him right away and kissed me deeply.

"You're so small." He said when I pulled away. My shoulders dropped and I nodded, that was one of the things Bobby and I were worried about. "Oh, no babe, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I've just been around all my sisters, you know right away when they were pregnant."

"But it worries me. I know what you mean. Everyone I know who's pregnant is much bigger even at five mouths." He wiped the tears away again. All I was doing was crying around him.

"Babe, have you talked to Lisa about it?" I nodded.

"She says it's nothing to worry about."

"But that doesn't mean you're not going to. Babe I've watched you and know you're not doing anything wrong. You do a light workout in the morning. That is helping you to stay in shape and that also helped you lost any fat you might have had. Then you work a normal day, if not longer. You're eating right and only eat when and if you hungry. The biggest thing is you're not eating any sugar. You need to let your body do what it wants to, but if you keep on worrying about this you're going to make yourself sick." He told me and I know he was telling the truth.

"It just doesn't tease right. I don't even like pineapple upside down cake."

"I'm sorry babe, maybe next time you'll only want sugar." My mouth just dropped open.

"You want more kids?"

"Doesn't matter to me as long as you're involved. But if you're willing I wouldn't mind having another child with you. Babe I will give you anything, I want to give you everything. I do have a few things to ask you though." I looked into his eyes and waited. "Will you mind if Julia joined us?" I smiled at once and shook my head no.

"No, but I have learned a lot about what was going on with her. She tries to call me once a day. Mostly I think she just wanted to know that I'm still in her corner. Her brother and sister are seeing what's really happening and are just upset over it as she is. They have been treating her bad because that's what the parents are doing. But once they say their dad sticking up for her, they started. But Rebecca is getting meaner. She didn't want me to tell you but Rebecca is starting getting physical with her." He saw red right away. Never let go of me but grabbed his phone and texted Hunter what I said. What I noticed was as he was clamming down he put his hand on my stomach.

"Do you have pictures?" He asked me, I didn't understand at first then got up and grabbed my purse. I gave him the different pictures and told him the different dates. "Do you know the sex?"

"I wanted to find out with you." He smiled again.

"Thank you, babe, I'm sorry you have to be the middle man but thank you for telling me that. I hate that Julia has to deal with all this." I leaned against him and gave him a minute.

"I don't mind, I really like talking to her. I told her I wouldn't tell you, but I don't want her to get hurt anymore." He picked me up and laid down on the bed. "How did you know to use pillows?" I asked him.

"When I did that, I didn't know you were pregnant. I thought it was just because of your back, Tank said you don't sleep very good on your back. The first night I would wake up a few times an hour and pull you back to me. The next night I put the pillow there and watched that you wouldn't sleep on it. You sleep like the dead when you couldn't move." I smiled and pulled him closer.

"Well thank you, but I sleep better when you're in the bed with me. I missed you."

"Babe I missed you to. Tomorrow we're going to have to go pick up something for you to eat. I don't really like you sneaking off to my cousin apartment in the middle of the night."

"I've been busy, normal I go with Ellea. You don't have to go shopping with me."

"Babe, I might think you're out of your mind with some of the things you eat. But I won't say anything about it. We'll go shopping tomorrow." I smiled.

"Try and be Tank asking for what I want." I felt him laugh.

"I'm sure I'll be in his place a few times, how many guys known and keep it from me?" He didn't sound upset.

"Tank, Bobby and Lester were there when I was told. Hector and Ellea already knew. That's all." He kissed my head.

"I love you babe."

"Love you." I said as my eyes were dropping.

When I woke up he was watching me sleep. He brushed my hair off my face.

"I like your hair long." He said. I smiled and rolled over.

"So, do I, I can do things with it and it never looks like crap. How long have you been up?"

"I've already went for my run and have been waiting for you to wake up to eat. I sat up and he helped me out of the bed. I went to the bathroom and joined him for breakfast.

"Why don't you like my tea?" I asked him.

"If smells like a flower garden babe and tease like water. I would rather just drink water."

"I like it," He nodded and left it at that. I popped the pill in my mouth and drank my tea. When he was done, he just sat there and waited for me. "You're watching me eat."

"Babe I'm just waiting. If it bothers you I'll leave."

"No I just don't want you to have to wait on me. If I eat to soon in the morning it upsets my stomach." He smiled at me.

"Babe we've got all day. Take your time, do you still go out with me?" I smiled at him.

"I would like that, are you sure you still want to go to the market with me?"

"Yes, instead of a date. We'll just spend the day together just having fun. It will still be a date but I said what I needed to last night. Another day I'll take you out on a real date."

"Ranger out on the town doing normal things." He smiled at me. When I was done eating he took our plates to the sink. I waited for him and we took a shower together. I did my hair and got dressed when I walked out, Ranger was there standing in the kitchen looking at the fried in jeans and a shirt. I moved over and saw he put the baby pictures on the fridge. He kissed my head and walked out with me.

We had a great day. We started out doing our shopping. Then we had a pinot down the pond and walked around the mall. We went to a movie and dinner. Then headed home. Then he showed me how much he loved me and how much everything he said last night was true. I love being with Ranger. He knows everything about my body and just left me spent. But didn't pull away from me. He held me close as I feel asleep.

In the middle of the night I shot awake when I heard my phone rang. I crawled over him and felt around our clothes for my cell phone.

"Julia what's wrong?" I asked. Ranger was wake and moved, then moved me. She was crying her eyes out.

"My parents,"

"Honey I need you to breathe for me. Some long deep breaths please." I heard her breath and tried to calm down.

"My parents got in a reek. They died." She welled and cried harder.

"We'll be right there." I pushed Ranger up and pointed to the closet. He got up right away. "Honey we'll be there as soon as we can, but you need to calm down for me. I know your upset and I know you're going to be hurting for a long time. But I need to know a few things alright? Can you do that for me."

"Yes," She said and was trying to calm down.

"Alright where are you and who's with you?" Ranger stopped what he was doing and waited for the answer also.

"Home with someone from Rangerman." She told me. I told him what she said. He found his phone and made some texting someone.

"Alright honey, where's your brother and sister." I felt bad once I asked, she started crying all over again.

"Someone took them. I told them my daddy was coming and the cops allow me to stay and wait for him. I tried to call daddy but couldn't remember his number, I know you're by heart and I'm sorry."

"That's not a problem, you can always get your dad throw me. I'm going to let you talk to him now. But honey you really need to calm down. I know this is hard, but you're going to get sick if you keep going like this." I told her.

"Ok Stephy," I gave Ranger the phone.

"Baby," I laid my hand on his chest as I past. I got dressed and gave him a minute with his daughter. "I understand you forgot my number baby, I'm glad you remember Steph and you had someone to call. I'm sorry I left honey and your alone thought this. But we'll be there as soon as we can. I love you baby." He said and passed me the phone. I kissed him and took the phone.

"Throw together some clothes for us and I'll meet you in the garage." He kissed me again.

"Hey honey," I said and found a bag.

"I'm really sorry." She said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, honey. If you're upset over calling me, don't be. I would rather you call then wait till morning. If for one second you think this was your fault it wasn't honey. You haven't done anything wrong and I mean it. If anyone try to tell you other ways, your dad will put them in their place."

"But I woke you guys up."

"Never feel bad for needed help. Waking us up doesn't even matter. We're more worried about you then anything else. I'm really sorry all this happened honey, and I'm sorry you dad wasn't there when you needed him. But he'll be there before you know it."

"No," She cried.

"Honey what's wrong?"

"I want you, can't you come to?" I just smiled.

"I'm coming with your dad. He loves you we both know that. But sometimes you just need a woman. Your dad knows we've been talking and wouldn't let me stay behind."

"I love you and just want you to come. I want daddy to bring you, I need you." I felt so bad for her. "I need both of you."

"I know honey, we're coming. Are you in your pj's?" I asked her.

"Yes,"

"Good, I'm still going to talk to you. But I want you to go and get into bed. Just lay down, snuggle up and get warm."

"Ok," I could hear her talk to someone, and then go do that. I pulled on my Jackie and slipped in my shoes. I grabbed my purse and walked out carrying Ranger's gym bag.

"I remember you telling me that you like your room, will you tell me about it?" I asked her. She went right in telling me all about what her room looks like. When I got to the garage all the guys were there talking. Ranger took the bags and put them in the car.

"That's sound like a really pretty room honey. You forgot to tell me the colors though." I kissed and hugged the guys. Ranger walked me around the car and put me in. He walked around and I saw Bobby run back over and give him something. I gave Ranger a look when he got in the car. He showed me a pill bottle with my name on it.

"Is purple your favorite color?" I asked her. Ranger started the car and kissed me.

"I like it, but my favorite color is white. My mother thought that would be boring to have my room all white. So did it, I like it and I like having my own space. But I wish I got a chose in it." Rebecca wasn't a really good mom to Julia.

"Then I'm glad you like it. I know what it's like. My mama did that to me all the time. Still to today she would rather run my life then let me. I can't wait to see your room."

"Babe tell her that my plane will be ready for us and it will be around a 3 hour flight. We should be there any time after that." Ranger told me.

"Honey you dad just told me that we should be there sometime after three hours. I'm going to talk to you till the last minute, but I'm going to need to get off the phone when the plane takes off. I would really be happy if you got some sleep between now and then."

"I understand, we'll you just talk to me." Ranger moved our hands to my stomach.

"OK honey," I started off by telling her some stories when I was little. I heard Ranger laugh a few times and I heard a little laugh out of her. But I noticed she was falling asleep. When I know for sure I looked over to Ranger.

"Who's with her?" I asked him softly.

"Danger why?" He asked me.

"Tell him to go check on her and turn off the phone if she's really asleep." He smiled at me and did what I asked. When the line went dead I closed my cell phone and dropped it in my purse.

"Thank you Babe, you got her from frantic to sleeping in a matter of minutes. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I don't want to over step though, Ranger she's your draught." He looked over at me.

"Babe don't worry about over stepping. Worry about me saying the wrong thing. I'm relieved that you and Julie have built a relationship. I didn't want to bring her here and not like you or you not liking her and not wanting anything to do with us. I need your help babe and I want you to be a part of this with me."

"Ranger I love her, but I'm worried about something else?" He looked over at me. "The younger kids were taken, state care I guess. That really upset her. What's going to happen to them?"

"If Rebecca and Kevin didn't have a will the state will probable contact family first. If no one steps forward they'll stay in state care." Now I was really worried.

"They'll be spilt up?" He nodded. I wiped my eyes and hated that I cried over everything.

"Babe they don't know me like Julia dose. But I'll get Hunter to see what he does. Having the only two people I care about upset over this I'll figure something out." Then I felt bad.

"Don't do something you don't want to do just because of me. Do you even have room for Julia?" I asked him. His lip tipped and he had something up his sleeve.

"Right after I chosen to stay here I had a house build. When we get back, I'll take you and Julia to it. I always planned to wait till I got a ring on your finger to show you. But it looks like we do everything backwards. I always stayed in the penthouse so you knew where to find me."

"I finely get to see you're the bat cave?" He was really smiling now.

"If some way Kevin's family doesn't step forward, I'll work with the state to get them to come with us. There will be more than enough room for us, then and this one." He said and rubbed the baby.

"Dose Julia knows?" He shook his head.

"No babe, I wanted to talk to you first. But all of this started with a bet. She bet me that if you loved me, I would bring her home to me. If she knew all this time that you loved me, she knows we'll get together and have a family together." I leaned back and covered his hand with mine.


	8. Chapter 8

"Babe it's time to wake up." Ranger kissed my head and brushed my hair out of my face. Slowly I opened my eyes and saw the sun was coming on. I looked around and saw we were parked in a driveway and I was sitting in a SUV. He smiled when he saw my face.

"I thought I should let you sleep." He helped me out and shut the door. I looked around and saw the house. It wasn't anything like I thought it would be. Really it was kind of ugly. The door opened when we got there. The man standing there didn't look anything like I pictured someone from Rangerman.

"Man," They did their hand thing and man hug. Then he held his hand out to me.

"Danger, this is Steph, Steph this is Danger." I smiled at him and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you." He just looked me over and raised an eye brow. "We'll you don't look so great yourself. You really don't fit the mold." His eyes cut over to Ranger.

[Sassy isn't she.] Danger said and moved out of our way. Ranger lead me inside and I saw I didn't like the inside anymore then the outside. The house was clean, but it just looked like something you would see in a color-blind person house.

"I know Babe, just try not to look at anything too long." Finely I looked up at him and smiled.

[That's all it took, she sure dose light right up for you doesn't she.]

"And she understands what you're saying." Ranger said to him as he was walking us down a hallway. I looked back and winked at Danger. Ranger stopped us at the last down and opened it softly. We walked in and saw she was still out cold.

"We should let her sleep." I told him as I was fixing her covers. He walked me out with him and cracked the door behind us. Back in the living room Danger handed us each a cup of coffee. I shook my head no and gave it back to him. Ranger pointed me to the kitchen.

"She's nothing like everyone says she is." I heard Danger say. They were following me.

"What should I be like?" I asked him. I was looking throw the cupboards. When I didn't find anything, I opened the fridge and looked at all that.

"Not this?" He told me. I nodded and found some kind of juice. I smelled it and put it back.

"Sorry I don't live up to what others think. What was the point in going shopping if there's nothing to eat?" I closed the fridge and turned around. Ranger wasn't there. "Where did he go?" I was lost.

"He forgot something in the car. It's not that you don't live up to it. You over did most of it." He started to say more but Ranger walked back in. He grabbed the tea cattle and started warming up water. Then put a water bottle in front of me and my pill in my hand.

"What are you heating up water for?" I asked him.

"The guys were looking out for you." He said, I opened the water and popped the pill in my mouth. I didn't understand what he was talking about. But when he moved behind me and sat a cup in front of me I smelled it right away.

"Ellea sent tea with us?"

"She gave it to Bobby and Bobby gave it to me." I just smiled and took a drink. It was even better than normal. I leaned back against Ranger and sipped the tea.

"You're drinking a flower garden?" Danger asked me. I helped my cup out to him. You could see he was thinking about it, and then took it. He took a drink and right away I could see he didn't like it. "What is that shit."

"Never trust something that looks too good to be true." Ranger said and was laughing.

"What is that shit."

"Why doesn't anyone like it?" I asked.

"Just stick to your coffee man, don't worry about no one liking it. That just means there's more for you." Ranger said and kissed my neck.

"It won't go away. I've drank lake water better than that."

"Why would you drink lake water? Do you know what could be in that water?" I made a face and Ranger was laughing even harder. Danger just looked lost. I sat my cup down and opened the fridge again. I pulled out a few different things that might look good. But when I put it on the counter, Ranger grabbed something and put it back. My mouth just dropped open and I couldn't believe I would do that. "Why did you do that?"

"Because it came from a cow once upon a time."

"Everyone should just but out, that looked really good." I put my hands on my hips and just looked at him.

"It could have been and you can take it up with the guys when we get back." He opened the fridge again and grabbed a jar.

"Where did you find that?" He just smiled and set it down on the counter. I opened everything and made a toast sandwich with everything. He would put everything away when I was done with it. I cut it in half and took a bit. Pickle, peanut butter and string chess sandwich isn't half bad. They were quite as I eat. I tried not to let it bother me that they were watching me.

"How can you say anything about lake water, when you're eating something like that?" Danger asked me when I was done.

"Because I'm pretty sure I know what was in what I just eat. Do you know how many people could have pee in that water? Let only everything else. That's just not right."

"Alright you two." Ranger said and herded us out of the kitchen. All we could do now was waiting for Julia to wake up. I turned on the TV quiet and leaned against Ranger. He was on his phone most the time. I've got up about 10 times to pee, but this time when I walked back out I heard something. I walked down the hall and looked in Julia's room. She was hugging her pillow and crying. I didn't know if she was a wake or not. But I walked I and she looked right over to me. I moved on the bed and held her to me.

"How long have you been wake honey?"

"You're here?" She asked me at the same time.

"Honey we're been here a few hours waiting for you to wake up. How long have you been awake, waiting on us?" I asked her.

"Just a few minutes, I thought I heard something. But as I was telling myself I made it up, you walked in." She started crying again. I moved some pillows and leaned against her head board and held her. Sometimes you just have to cry. She was latched onto me and crying out her eyes. I just held her and rubbed her back.

"I told you we would be here, if there's anyone you can trust honey your dad would have moved heaven and earth to get us here."

"I was just worried that when I opened my eyes it would all be a dream and you wouldn't even be here. Then I started feeling bad, because if I'm hoping that, then my parents would still be dead. I just wanted you and daddy to be here so bad."

"We're here, your safe now." I kissed her head and held her. A little while later she was asleep and I needed to pee. I found my phone and texted Ranger. All I said was help. He opened the door and shook his head when he saw us.

"I really need to pee," He came over and helped me out from under her. What he did was just pick her up. I rolled my eyes and went to the bathroom. When I got out, Ranger wasn't in Julia's room. I walked in the living room and saw they were on the couch. Danger was gone.

"She feels bad for waking up and hoping it wasn't a dream because then we would be here. Then remembers if we're here then they aren't. Are we going to stay here?"

"Only if Julia wants to. Hunter has already taken care of everything for us with the state with her. He also added to my will if anything happens to me, you'll be her guardian. We're going to have to wait till after the funeral to see what happens to the younger kids. But he's trying to see if they can stay here while we're here." I nodded and leaned against him.

"What are we going to eat?"

"When she is really awake, we'll got to the store and pick up some food, maybe you'll let me cook for you." I looked up at him.

"You can cook?"

"Every woman in my family made sure I can cook. How was she beside that?"

"Relieve that we were here. She really doses love you."

"I've always tried to be in the back ground of her life. I made sure she knew I loved her. I signed over my rights when she was a baby so she would have a normal life. If I knew what I did now, I never would have."

"Yes, you would, you've always put her need before yours. That's just how you are Ranger." I told him. He put his arm around me and held me to him also. It didn't take long for Julia to wake up again. She laid there for a long time with tears falling down her face.

"Baby," Ranger wiped her tears off and kissed her head. She wrapped her arms around her neck and moved to wrap herself around him now.

"Do I get to go home with you daddy?" She asked him.

"Yes, you're stuck with me now." He rubbed her back.

"What about Steph?" He smiled and kissed her head.

"We'll make sure she's stuck with us also. How are you doing?" He asked her.

"I'm sad," She said.

"That's not going away for a while honey, besides that, how are you?" I asked her.

"I'm glad you're here, but I'm worried about Sara and Peter? They were just pulled out of here last night. What's going to happen to that?"

"I don't know baby, we won't find out till after the funeral. I'm trying to get it so they can stay here till that happens though." She turned her head and looked at me.

"There is a chance you guys might be spilt up. If that happens we'll make sure you know and get to talk to them and see them when we get the chance. Are you hungry?" I asked her. She shook her head no. "We'll you try and eat something?" I asked her and held out my hand. She took it and got up with me. We walked into the kitchen and I made her some toast and a glass of milk.

She eat slowly and drake all the milk. I brushed her hair back and just waited. When I know, she wouldn't eat anymore, I throw the rest away and walked her back into the living room. I saw Ranger standing outside on the phone.

"Do you feel up to taking a shower and getting dressed?" She held my hand tighter. "Honey I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here and I'm not going anywhere." I told her and kissed her head. She hugged me and thanked me softly.

"I'll take a shower," I laughed and let her walk away. I waited till I heard the water, then I walked outside. Ranger pulled me to him and finished up on the phone.

"They're going to drop the kids off tonight. Keeping then with family is better than somewhere they don't know. Kevin's lawyer told Hunter he wants to talk to us and the kids before the funeral. They did have a will. Do you think Julia will be up to going to the store?"

"We'll ask her, being genital with her and letting her lock herself up isn't the same thing. If it's too soon, it's too soon. But if it's just because she doesn't want to face the world, that's different. Just treat her like me." He just held me. "Are you ok with taking on two more kids?" I asked him.

"Like you said, I put Julia's needs before mine. Are you going to be able to deal with two more kids with me?" He asked me.

"They're hurting as much as she is, if not more. You might be this big strong person, but you make them feel safe. You also are very soft when you want to be. Peter's going to want a man more than a woman, you're going to be a big part in helping him throw this." I told him.

"You give me too much credit. It took me how many years to just talk to you?"

"He might not need you to talk, just be strong for him. He can't be 10 yet and he might he you to tell him it's alright to cry."

"He's 9 and Sara's just turned 7. What's going on?" I pulled away and waved her over. Ranger held her to him.

"Around dinner time, Peter and Sara are going to get dropped off and we'll stay with us. That means we'll have to stay here though. Before the funeral, we all are going to go and listen to what your parent's lawyer has to tell us. They did have a will. After the funeral, we'll find out where your sister and brother are being place, and then we'll go home. But first we need to go to the store and do some shopping, do you want to go or would you like Steph to stay here with you?" He asked her. I smiled and nodded when he looked over at me.

"Can we get some stuff mom wouldn't let us have?" She looked up at him and asked. He raised any eye brow. "Maybe some candy and some soda?" He smiled at her.

"I'm sure we'll find something along those lines you'll like. Are you ready?" He asked her. She nodded and took my hand. We got into the SUV while he was locking up. I never would believe Ranger would be caught dead shopping with two girls and looking so normal.

I made sure all three of them would have something for themselves. Each got their own candy and soda. We also got snacks and Ranger did the normal shopping. He didn't say one thing that went into the cart. When we were checking out, he didn't even look at the price just paid. We got back into the SUV and drove us back to the house. He gave us each a few lighter bags and grabbed the rest. I had the keys and unlocked the door.

"Are you guys going to stay in the spare room?" Julia asked me.

"How about you two go with the bag and I'll put everything away." I kissed him as I past. We got the bag and she showed me the room. It was nice, but the same as the rest of the house. She helped me unpack and sat on the bed. I moved in front of her and gave her time.

"Do you think we'll be far apart?" She finely asked me.

"I don't know honey, only time will tell. Are you alright with them coming and staying here with us. It's the first time you've really got your dad to yourself and you're going to have to share him?"

"I don't want them to be alone. Sara was scramming as they were being pulled away. Jeff was here before the cops, he wouldn't let anyone get close to me to even think about taking me also. They were really scared that they just came in and dragged them away. They didn't even give us time to say goodbye." She was really sad, but her eyes were dry.

"Things were done wrong, but they'll be here soon enough and I'll make sure you get to have time to say good bye this time. Can I ask you something?" She looked up at me and nodded. "Why didn't your mama let you have sugar?"

"That's just how she was, she like to be in control of everything. If everything wasn't how she liked it, she would be upset. When I could I would tell dad how I was doing and he was always happy. But every time I would tell mom she would want me to do better. When I told her, what dad said she told me it would be different if he had to take care of me? Was she, right?" She asked me and I could see she was worried now that she was going to go live with someone she really didn't know.

"What did your dad do when he found out that you were fighting and doing badly in school?" I asked her.

"He came right down and asked if I was alright. He wanted to know what was going on and why I was doing it. When I didn't want to talk about it, he dropped it and it was like it never happened." I smiled at her.

"That's your dad, he might want grate things out of you. But he'll never push you past what you'll be able to do. It might be rocky between you guys for a little while, but this is a new thing. I know he's not going to like it if you fight, but he'll always make sure you're alright and listen to you. If you get a bad grade and have a reason, he'll understand. But if you just slack off, he's going to want to know why. He doesn't yell, I don't think he's very yelled at me. He normal doesn't get mad, it takes a lot." She listened to everything I said.

"Are you going to be there with us?" That what she was really worried about.

"Yes honey. I'm not always going to step between you guys when there's a problem. He's your dad and you both need to learn how to deal with each other. But if I know I can help, I will. Don't worry about that." She leaned forward and hugged me.

"Do you think you'll ever get married?"

"We might, but being married doesn't have anything to do with being together. Even if something happens and we no long are together, I'll always be there for you."

"But if you get married you'll be my mom." I pulled her back to me and just hugged me.

"Honey I don't have to marry your dad to be in both of your lives. I'm not going to promise anything, but I'm pretty sure we will get marry one day."

"Would you mind if I want you to be my mom?" She asked me softly?

"No honey I wouldn't mind, it would make me really happy. But I would like you to talk to your dad first." She nodded and pulled back.

"I can do that, he's really happy around you."

"I'm really happy around him. Your dad's one of a kind, he's my own personal batman. But I'm more than willing to share him, whenever I need to. We both work, but we'll make sure one of us are always home for you. It will take some working on our part, but we will. I don't know what your dad will want to do about the school chose, but we'll also get you into school."

"He hates that I go to a private school." She smiled at the thought.

"Babe, Julia?" Ranger call down the hall to us. She jumped and hurried off the bed, I could see fear all over her face. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"He's just letting you know either dinners ready or someone's about to show up. That's wasn't yelling and that wasn't something you should be scared up. Your dad just knows how carry his voice to let people know he's calling them. If he really wanted you to hurry, he would have said something with our names." She let out the breath she was holding and walked out of the room with me. Ranger walked heading towards us when we walked out. He had his sleeves rolled up and he looked really at ease.

"I'll explain later," I told him when I saw his face. He nodded right away and pulled Julia to him and turned to walk down the hall. He didn't stop at the kitchen but walked to the front door. As he opened it, a car pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"Always prepaid?" I asked him. He nodded down the street to a black SUV. He put his arm around me and held Julia to him. A woman got out of the car and walked over to us. I could she two young kids crying and screaming to get out. Ranger held both of us to him and wouldn't let us go.

"That's not right." I said to him.

"I know," He was mad, Julia looked over at me and you could see the fear again. "I'm not mad at you Julia or the kids. I'm mad at this woman."

"Mr. Monaco?" The lady asked and stopped in front of us.

"And you are?"

"Miss Soften, I'm in charge of making sure these two young kids are being taken care of and are safe. I've been advised to leave them with family while affairs are being taken care of." She said in a tone that just pushed Ranger over the edge.

"Would you like to explain how there being taken care of now? Because from what I see they don't look safe or taken care of. Locked in a car?" He asked her. She took a step back and looked back at the car.

"Are you willing to take these children? I'll worn you now they'll are easy, they haven't been good since I've took them."

"They just lost their parents and from what I've seen in a few minutes you shouldn't even have your job. You ripped them away from their sister and wouldn't even let them say goodbye. Have you even sat them down and explain to them what's happened and why there with you? Have you even taken five seconds and seen what they've needed? Have they sleep, did you make sure they eat. Are they hurt?" I went on and on.

"Babe," Ranger pulled me closer.

"Fine I'll leave them with you, but I'll be watching." She said. She really thought she was doing us a favor. Ranger let go of us and walked over to the car before she could. I held Julia and watched him opened the door and helped each one out. They might not know him, but he just turned into their protector. He picked Sara up and held Peter's hand as he walked back to us. I smiled when I saw he left the door open. I gave the woman a looked and walked in with Julia. I shut the door behind us and locked it. I smiled when I saw Ranger looked lost now.

"Peter Sara this is my dad who you already know and Steph." Julia said, she saw the look also.

"Are you guy's hungry?" I asked them. When I walked over and rubbed Sara's back, she turned and latched onto me. Ranger looked worked but I waved him away. I held her and walked into the kitchen. Everyone followed me. I sat down at the table and Ranger worked around Peter and grabbed the food. When everyone was sitting down Peter and Julia looked at Ranger.

"Aren't you hungry?" He asked them. He was going to get a wakeup call when I talk to him tonight. Julia smiled and started dicing up her plate. Peter say and I saw a little light behind his eyes. She helped him but he put what he wanted on his plate. Sara was watching and slowly moved into her own chair. Ranger past everything to her, but he held it and let her pick what she wanted. When she spilled something on the table she froze up and her eyes went hug and started tearing up. He just handed her a towel and waited for her to clean it up, and then let her get the rest of the food she wanted. He was a natural father. She was slow again and tired not to make a mess. He didn't care either way. I would reach over her head for the food and dies up my won plate.

"Do you guys have a set bedtime?" Ranger asked when he was done eating. They all nodded. Julia took a drink.

"8," He just raised any eye brow.

"8?" He asked her, she nodded and waited for him to say what we both know he was thinking. "When do you have to get up 4? That's not even understandable. Over sleeping is unhealthy. 8 hours is what a body needs. When dose Nana make, you go to bed?" He asked.

"10, but that's just when she wants me in my room." He folded his arms and thought about it. Then looked over at me. He wanted my help.

"Let clean up and watch a movie. Around nine we'll get ready for bed and at 10 sounds like a good time to be in bed. We've have a hard day and we do need our sleep." They all nodded at me. When everyone was done eating we all worked together and cleaned up the kitchen.

They sat down and let them pick what we were going to watch. I grabbed snacks, candy and drinks and came in. A little more light showed up behind their eyes. I sat them down in front of each kid and sat down myself. Julia went right to town and picked what she wanted. Peter was right behind her, about 10 minutes into the movie Ranger grabbed the bag of candy for Sara, and he opened it and shared it with her. She looked up at me. I nodded and she grabbed a piece.

When the movie was over, we helped them get ready for bed and get into bed.

"Do you need anything to help you go to sleep?" I asked Sara. I tucked her in. She pointed to a night light. I turned it on for her. "We'll be just down the hall, if you need us come and get us. But fell like you can't come in and get us. I know this is a hard time on all three of you and it's alright you feel sad." She nodded, I leaned down and kissed her head. "Good night sweetie." I walked out, but didn't shut the door all the way. I checked in on Julia, I tucked her in and kissed her head also. Peter was lying in bed and looked worried when I walked in.

"Do you need anything to help you sleep?" He wasn't too sure if he should answer. I saw a night light and turned it on. "Don't be worried about saying something you want. If you need us, we'll just be down the hall." His eyes were already dropping. I tucked him in and kissed his head also. I didn't shut his door either. Ranger was sitting on the couch waiting for me.

"I have a feeling I've miss something big around here?" He said to me. I pulled my feet under me.

"Rebecca used fear and control to run her house and raise her kids. When you called us, Julia's face was covered with fear and she jumped off the bed, if I didn't catch her she would have ran right to you. When you put the food on the table, everything didn't really know what to do, Rebecca most have always done it for them. When Sara spilled, she was ready for what was going to happen. Like you would hit her and yell at her just because she spilled something." He pulled me onto his lap.

"Julia," He didn't know what to say. At first I thought she was here. I looked around, and then looked up at him. He was looking for what to say.

"There all waiting for us to yell, scream, give orders and maybe hit them. Even Julia, she loves you Ranger. But it's going to take some time for her to get over problem."

"Babe I don't want to scare her." He was worried.

"Ranger Julia can read you as good as you can read her. All we have to do is give her time to get use to her. Remember you have to get use to her also. Do you how surprised I was at you today. You are a natural father Ranger." I lay against him and put his arms around me.

"Babe, I hardly said anything." He said and thought I was making it all up. I just smiled.

"Ranger it isn't always about what you say, you must have held that blow for Sara for 10 minutes. The fact that you didn't push Peter aside when you were moving the food to the table. Sure, it would have been easier, but you didn't. I love you." He kissed my head.

"I love you to Babe." He got up and walked us into the spare room. "But if you even turn our house into something like this, I'll comment you."

"I'll go willing." I pulled on his shirt and a pair of my boxer shorts. He undressed and put on his boxers. I thought about bring them for him and really didn't know if he would want them. But now that I'm seeing them on him I smiled. He grabbed me and pulled me on the bed with him.

"How would you feel if we go to Rangerman tomorrow and talk with Kevin's lawyer?" I nodded and thought that was alright. He tucked pillows around me and held me. I was tired, but he was already asleep. I smiled and closed my eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

"Babe," Ranger said softly and was kissing my neck.

"Sleeping." I said and tried to pull the pillow over my head.

"I know babe, I was just letting you know I was going for a run." I rolled over and looked up at him. He pulled on a pair of sweets.

"Did I pack those?" I asked him. He kissed me and I could see he was smiling.

"You thought of everything babe. Go back to sleep and I'll be back soon. There's someone parked out front while I'm gone if you need anything." I nodded and kissed him again, then let him go. I closed my eyes, but couldn't go back to sleep. Finely I got up and started some coffee. I checked on all the kids and everyone was still out cold.

I grabbed some clothes and took a shower. I got dress and got ready to fight with my hair. But as soon as I brushed it out and put some stuff in it, I was done. I walked back into the kitchen and saw a box of tea and honey next to the water pot. I started the water and filled two cups up with coffee. I walked outside and walked over to the SUV. The passenger window opened.

"Something wrong?" A guy asked. I just smiled and passed over the coffee cups. They took it, I just turned and headed back into the house. I don't know how long they were there, but I know what it's like. My water was done and I made my tea. I heard a door open and walked out into the hall. Sara was pocking her head out of her room. She looked scared.

"Morning sweetie," I just smiled at her. She walked out of her room slowly. "You're the first one up, do you want to help me with breakfast?" I held out my hand to her. She took it and I saw a smile. We walked into the kitchen and I was lost.

"What do you normal eat?" She made a face, then walked me over to a cupboard and pointed to the oatmeal. I knelled down and pushed it aside and pulled a few boxes of cereal forward. "Would you like one of those instead?" Her head just bobbed. I grabbed the boxes. She pointed to what she wanted. I handed it to her and she walked over to the table. I got everything she would need and gave it to her. I helped her open the box, but let her do everything else.

I filled up my cup and watched her. The milk was full and it was hard on her. I watched her spill a few times. She would look and me and wait for me to get upset. Then grab a paper towel and clean up after herself. She sat down and eat. What I did notice is she was rocking her feet under the table. She was happy.

"Babe did you really take coffee out there?" Ranger asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I thought they would like it." He leaned over and kissed me. As he walked out of the kitchen, he kissed Sara on the head. She looked over at me and I saw a small smile there. I know he was going to take a shower and get ready for the day.

"I like him to," She nodded and went back to her food. Julia came in when Sara was walking her blow to the sink.

"Cereal?" I asked her. She nodded and grabbed the kind she wanted and sat down at the table. I pulled Sara to me and held her. She was the smallest thing. I can't believe she's 7. "Do you think Peter is awake?" I asked both of them.

"I didn't hear him." Julia said, but I could see that she wasn't wide awake yet. I pulled away from Sara and went to check on him. When I crack the door open, I saw him roll over and hid. I walked over to his bed and rubbed his back.

"If you need some privacy I'll give it to you, but I wanted you to know that there's breakfast. Sara told me you normal have oatmeal, but I thought cereal would be better." I told him.

"Cold or hot?" He asked me. I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Cold, with milk. You have different kinds to pick from. What's hot cereal?" He rolled over and I wiped his face off.

"Cream of wheat." He told me.

"That's not one of the chose, but I'm sure if that's what you wanted we could make it." He shook his head.

"I don't like it,"

"Then you don't have to eat it. Do you want to come and eat or do you want some more time?" He moved off the bed, waited for me. Then walked into the kitchen. Ranger was at the stove cooking something for us. He grabbed the box he wanted and sat down. I leaned on the counter next to Ranger. He kissed me.

"I can't believe you took them coffee." He told me.

"I would bring the guys coffee. I didn't think just because I didn't know them I should treat them different." I told them.

"You never brought the guys coffee."

"Maybe not from my house, but when I stopped somewhere I would get them something also. I made you coffee and out for them also. If it's that big of a think to them, they just have to get over it." He put food on two plates for us.

"That might take a while." We sat down and eat. He did give me my pill. When everyone was done, they clean up after themselves and sat back down waiting for us.

"What are we doing today?" Julia finely asked us. I pointed my fork to Ranger.

"We're going to go to Rangerman and talk with Hunter and your parent's lawyer. After that and before that, we don't have any plans."

"Before the funeral, I'll need to go shopping." I told everyone.

"When are, we going?" She asked.

"After everyone is ready," He told everyone. I got up and cleaned up. Julia hared everyone out to get ready. Ranger moved behind me and kissed my neck. "The only woman who works at Rangerman is pregnant and fells sorry for everyone." He said.

"I can't help it, but if you say I'm moody I'm going to be upset."

"You're not moody babe. If might show a few more emotion, but they aren't out of control."

"You should have been there when I laid into Clay, I felt really bad for it." He put his chin on my head.

"I told you there will be some people who will want to use you. Most the guys have already tested the waters with you and when I compete stepped back they knew not to push you. But there were some that didn't. No one will drought you now." Ranger told me.

"You weren't there, I was screaming at him. Hector could hear me." I told him. Everyone was standing there watching me. When I was done, all I could do was go into my office and hid.

"The men let me know what's going on while I'm gone. You might think you were screaming at him, but the guys just thought you were finely standing on your own feet, giving him an ass chowing and putting him in his place. The ones who really know you didn't like how you were being treated, but they knew if they always stepped in. You would never really be treated like their boss. We're all strong man and you needed to earn their respect as their boss. We respected you as part of our family, but you still needed to earn your place. When you snapped, you did that in flying colors babe."

"You never yell at them."

"Babe, you have a sexy innocent face. The guys look at you and don't see how strong you really are. I can't say I haven't yelled, but mostly I can get what I want out of them with a look." I turned around and looked up at him.

"Guys" I rolled my eyes. He kissed me again. Someone tapped me in the side. We looked down and saw Sara standing next to us. She held up a brush, her hair was wet and she wanted help. Ranger moved aside and let me go help her. When we were back into the bathroom. I brushed her hair out softly.

"Do you want to hang dir. or would you like me to pull it up?" She handed me a hair tie and let me do what I wanted with it. When I was done, I showed her the little flip I did and her face light up. She hugged me. She took my hand and walked out. Ranger was on the phone outside when we walked into the living room. Julia and Peter were ready also. I turned off the light and locked the door and walked outside. Ranger followed and picked up Peter and Sara and put them in. Then walked around and helped Julia and me in.

"Danger I really don't want to hear this." Ranger wasn't happy. "I know man, I'll deal with it." He said and hung up.

"What's wrong?" He put the phone away.

"What did Jeff do now?" Julia asked.

"How upset would you be if I had to work while I was here?" He asked me. I looked over and saw he was the one who wasn't happy with it.

"Who is Jeff?" I asked him.

"Danger," He said, I gave him a look. "He's second in charge. Dom is in control of this building." He said and rubbed his face.

"Where should have, Dom been, if you came back?"

"He was my second in charge and Danger was mostly in the field." I just nodded and was taking everything in.

"So, because you're here, Dom thinks you're going to come in and do his job for him." He looked over at me and he was wearing his blank face. I sat back and looked out the window. Him working doesn't bother me at all. Having someone using him pisses me off. The drive was quiet. When Ranger slowed down I looked up at the building that we were pulling under. It was huge. Julia hopped out when we parked. Ranger helped the smaller kids out as I got out. Sara was waiting for me. She was scared. Peter was trying to hid it and act like a big boy, then Ranger reached his hand out of him while we were waiting for the elevator.

We got in and road to the sixth floor. All eyes were on us when we walked out. Ranger just lead us where we needed to go. Where my office would be, it was his. He opened the door and we walked in. I just stopped when I saw everything. There was work everywhere. Ranger shook his head.

"Can you wait here, Babe?" I asked me. I nodded and kissed him as he left.

"Dose your dad office normal look like this?" I asked Julia as I walked around the desk. I pulled Sara on my lap.

"Most the time." I nodded, picked up the phone and dialed the number to the Trenton office.

"Rangerman," Ram said.

"It's Steph and you pass me throw to Tank."

"Sure, thing boomer."

"What's up little girl?"

"What's Ranger's log in down here?" I asked and looked at the screen, it was waiting for a password. Tank didn't even ask, just told me what it was. "Do you know Dom?" I asked him.

"Ranger's been asked to come in and work hasn't he. Little Girl Dom's a good guy, he just has to know that Ranger won't always clean up his mess. Don't go too hard on him." I logged in.

"This is out of control. It looks like most of this stuff is from right after Ranger came back home." I said as I was flipping throw everything.

"You're talking to the wrong person little girl. Sorry Steph I have to go."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." I said and hung up.

"What's wrong Steph?" Julia asked me.

"When your dad came down here a few months ago, he came for you. But he was dragged in here to deal with stuff like this." She nodded and they were quite again. I moved things around and started making stacks. "Honey what's wrong?" I asked her.

"I always thought he came down here for work." I stopped and smiled at her.

"Honey your dad loves you and puts you before work. He dropped everything and comes down here to be with you. But he has Tank to watch over the building and makes sure everything gets done. But when someone asks him for help, it's hard for him to say no. That's why he's working when he's down here to be with you. But this is out of control."

"Can we help?" She asked and both the kids nodded.

"I would love it if you could help. But I don't think I have anything for you to help with. Would you guys like to draw while we wait?" I grabbed some paper out of the printer and handed them each some and found pens and pencils for them to use. Then I started putting everything in the computer. I still could hold Sara while she was drawing and type.

"Would you like to explain what you're doing?" I looked up from what I was doing and saw Danger standing in the doorway and wasn't looking very happy with me.

"Would you like to explain what all this shit is?" I asked back and didn't stopped. I've made a sizeable dent already.

"From the looks of it you know what it is. Who said you could come in here and," I tried to raise my eye brow. It didn't work.

"From what I remember, you were there. We came down here because Julia needed us. You remember that right. It was only yesterday. Now try to, just try to explain why there's paperwork that should have been done three months ago, just sitting on this desk. How is this building still even running? Do people even get paid? Now I'm busy, so turn around, walk out and shut the door behind you." He did just what I said. I checked on everyone and went back to the paperwork I was working on.

"Explain."

"I thought I told you to go?" I said to Danger.

"Babe?" Ranger questioned me. I looked over and saw Ranger and Hunter standing just inside the office. I gave them a shy smile.

"Hi Hunter how are you?"

"I'm fine dear, who's this beautiful young lady you have on your lap?" He asked me.

"Sara Peter this is Hunter. Hunter these are Julia sister and brother." He walked over to the chairs in front of the desk and sat down. Ranger shut the door and followed him.

"It's very nice to meet you both. I'm really sorry what happened to you." He told them. He waited to see if they would say anything, and when they didn't he went on. "What's going to happen is Kevin's lawyer is going to show up here soon. Carlos and I are going to go talk to him for a few minutes, and then we'll bring you three kids in for him to talk to you. Do any of you have any questions?"

"Will this change me staying with dad?" Julia asked him.

"No, your father already signed over his custody to your dad. That's already been taken care of and you'll never have anything to worry about. Anything else?" He asked. No one said anything. I looked at everyone and saw they were worried.

"Are you worried about what this guy will have to say?" I asked them. All three of them nodded their heads at me. I leaned back and held Sara to me. "Everyone knew what's happening to Julia, but no one knows what's going to happen to you guys. Your worried that you'll be ripped away from Julia again and be somewhere like you were yesterday, right?" I asked them. They nodded against. It was becoming too much and I could see all of their eyes tear up. Sara was the first to break down, she turned around and cried. I held her to me and rubbed her back. We sat there and the office was quiet. Peter was fighting against crying. Ranger got up and picked him up. I smiled and watched him walk away from everyone with him.

I could hear he was talking very softly to him. I don't know why he didn't believe me, but he was born to be a father. When Sara was clammed down I still held her, but went back to the paperwork. Now we were just in a standstill. We needed to wait for the lawyer. I was making a stack of papers. I looked over to Julia and saw she was just sitting there.

"Do you still want to help?" I asked her. Her face light up. I grabbed the stack and waved her over. I would give her a paper and tell her where it went. When she started to understand, I gave her the stack and watched her. When I know, she would do it right I turned back around.

I know Ranger hated that I was cleaning up this mess. He hates when I do his work. I just didn't look at him. When the phone rang, I picked it up without thinking.

"Yo," I said and leaned the phone against my shoulder.

"Is Ranger there?" I guy asked and he didn't sound so sure. I moved the phone behind me and held it out to Ranger. He was smiling when he took it.

"What?" Ranger asked. He listened and hung up the phone. I rolled my eyes, but looked up at him.

"This shouldn't take long, are you good?" He asked me. I nodded and kissed him. Softly he laid Peter down on the couch. The poor boy cried himself to sleep. Ranger and Hunter walked out and shut the door behind them. I looked down and saw Sara was playing with the ends of my hair. She notices and looked up at me, I smiled at her. She smiled back.

"You sure are a great smuggle buddy, I think I might trade Ranger in for you." I didn't hear it, but I felt her laugh.

"I'm going to tell dad that," Julia said and laughed with us. "What is all this stuff?"

"Most of it is paperwork that you have to do to run a good business. There's other stuff mixed in there also. Your dad might push a little of his work aside when he has other things to do, but it's nothing he can't catch up on when he sits down to do it. You saw the looks he was giving me, he hates that I'm doing it for him. But I would rather sit here with you guys and get it done, then have him spend all the with us. I'm faster than he is anyway." They both laughed again.

Peter woke up and started draying again. I didn't get much done when the phone rang.

"Yo,"

"Babe can you come out here for a minute." Ranger asked.

"Sure, give me a minute." I said and hung up the phone. I turned and sat Sara down. "I'll be right back, try not to do all the work for me." She smiled and nodded to me. I kissed her head and walked out of the office. Ranger was standing at the end of the hall waiting for me. I walked over to him. He pulled me to him and I saw he was looking out the glass at the city.

"Kevin changed there will the same day he signed over Julia to me. If anything would happen to them, I'm their guardian. I have the chose though. He said because he picked me because how I've acted with Julia. If I pass up the right the lawyer will talk to the family and see who will take them." He told me.

"That's your chose Ranger, I won't make it for you?"

"But your part of my life now. We're going to go from not having children, to expecting one, to have three with one on the way. I don't want to bring you into my life and drop all this on you."

"You're not dropping this on me, we'll work together. Partners," He kissed me.

"Alright, I am going to let them chose if they want this." I nodded and kissed him again. We walked back to the office together and he asked them to go with him. Once the door was closed I picked up the phone and called Tank.

"Yo."

"I need you to do me a favor and call Danger and Dom and tell them to get their asses into Rangers office." I said and hug up the phone. I sat back and waited. Danger came walking in a few minutes later, I pointed to the chair and waited. About 10 minutes later another guy walked in and just stopped when he saw me. I pointed to the chair also.

"Shut the door." He did and sat down. "I'm Stephanie by the way. If you don't know or haven't been told I work under Ranger in the Trenton office. I mostly work with the business part and run the Client part of the building. But I work closely with Ranger and Tank and I understand that people get behind and sometimes paperwork gets stacked up. But this is fucking crazy. There's shit here from three months ago, so please try and help me understand what the hell is going throw both of your minds." I asked them. Dom just leaned back and folded his arms.

"What give you the right to come in here and think you have any say in the matter? For all I care your Ranger fuck and while he's having a good time with you, you're getting a job and a nice pay check. You have no rights in this building." I just looked at him.

"I have say in the matter because I'm cleaning up your fuck up. And if I was just given the job because I'm a good fuck I would have had it years ago, if all I cared was the money, I wouldn't be busting my ass. I would sit at home and ask him for the money. You need to check your mouth with me if you want to keep your job. You might be in charge of this building but you can't do your job. You're pilling everything up on this desk not giving a shit and Danger is the one saving your ass, getting Ranger in here to clean up this shit. I can't even come up for a reason you still have a job. Anyone and I mean anyone who can't do their job, doesn't have a job." Dom strike behind I could do anything. But Danger grabbed his arm before his hand could touch my face.

"Bitch you have no right to talk to me like that." Dom yelled at me.

"What did you just say?" A cold as death voice just said. The door hit the wall and there was Ranger standing in the doorway. Then he saw the scene in front of him. He walked in, grabbed Dom by the neck and pushed him into the wall. "You were going to hit my woman?" Ranger asked him, he was in his face.

"All this over a fuck?" Ranger slammed him in the wall.

"I've laid down a law, I expect it to be followed." Ranger said.

"She's not my boss and can't act like it." Ranger looked over at me.

"Yes, she is." He pulled back. "I'll deal with you later." He pushed him in the chair. "She's doing what should have been done years ago, I've gave up more than enough time cleaning up after you. This isn't my job anymore." He walked out and slammed the door behind him. I held up a finger and followed him out.

"Ranger." I called after him and he didn't stop. "Carlos," He stopped turned and looked at me. He raised his eye brow at me. I smiled at him and I walked over to him. I took his hand and put it on my stomach.

"Babe," He laid his forehead against mine.

"I can't let you walk back into those kids like this." I told him. He leaned down and kissed me. Then pulled away and walked back to the meeting. I walked back into the office. They were both just sitting there and couldn't believe what just happened.

"Do either of you even know what you're doing?" I asked them. When I noticed, they didn't know what I was asking. "I know Ranger wouldn't put someone in a job they don't know how to do. So, I'm asking if either of you know what you're doing in running this building?" Danger asked and Dom just looked at me.

"Do you know how to run this your building?" Dom asked me.

"Yes, how the fuck do you think did it while Ranger was here dealing with your shit and helping Julia? Like you I had someone helping me. Tank helped me, he didn't my job for me, and he helped me. Danger is here to help you, not do it for you. I understand you might have been thrown into a job you weren't ready for, but that was years ago, you should have picked something up along the way. Don't get something up your ass thinking I'm coming in here taking over. That's not why I'm here. I've cleaned up half of this shit, but I've just had enough. You're going to get paperwork in a business, Rangerman is a business. Take care of your own fucking paperwork. Do you understand?"

[Do you understand I don't give a fuck what you're saying?]

[And I don't give a fuck what you're saying, you're worse than a child. Do your fucking job or I will find someone who can and you won't have the job anymore? Do you understand me now?] I asked him.

"You really think you could fire me." I smiled and picked up the phone, I dialed Tanks number and put him on speaker.

"Little Girl?" He asked me.

"I know you're busy and this will only take a few minutes."

"I've got the time, what's up?" He asked me.

"If I know someone wasn't doing their job, do I have the right to fire them?" I asked him.

"With a short expiation to Ranger, yes you do. Do I even want to ask?" He asked me.

"Are you eating?" Bobby asked throw the phone. I picked up the hand set.

"One of so little faith. What are you doing with all your free time?" I asked him. He laughed at me.

"What free time,"

"Tank said you're not getting along with Dom beautiful. Have you put him in his place yet or are you being a push over?" Lester asked me.

"What are you guys having a powwow, I'm busy call me later." I told him.

"I'm hurt." He said and was laughing.

"Dose Ranger knows what's going on?" Tank asked me.

"This morning we came to Rangerman to meet with Kevin's lawyer. Before we go there, he did get a head up about what was waiting for him. I started cleaning up half of it, but came to my limit. I have my own work there waiting for me. That's when I called you. I got in a few works and Dom got all but hurt, that's when Ranger chose to walk in. I called you because Ranger's busy and Dom doesn't think I have the right to fire him." I told him.

"Are you really thinking about firing him, or just trying to scare him into doing his job?"

"It about half and half at this point. I'm pretty sure Ranger will be calling you later, but I've got to go."

"Bobby said to eat something." He said and hung up. I rolled my eyes and hung up the phone.

"Did that answer your question? Because I'm sure when Ranger gets back in here he'll say the same thing. As of right now he's not very happy with you and he might just do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I would rather you grow a pair and do your job. But if you can't I will replace you." Danger looked over to Dom.

"I've known Ranger longer then Tank, do you really think,"

"Cool great that wonder that you're all buddy buddy. That's not how you run a business. I don't know where you think just because your close means you can do what you want. Really that just pisses me off even more. Your close and you're doing this to him. Lester can't sit still in an office and can do his own work. If for one second he slacked off Ranger would fire him without blinking and their family." I just wasn't getting throw to him. I rubbed my face. "Danger out." He got up and walked out right away.

"Truthfully cards on the table do you know how to do the paperwork?" I asked him.

"Yes," I looked his face over and saw he was telling the truth.

"Do you not have time to do it, or is there something else?" He sat back and closed off from me. I was about to give up and sat forward again.

"It gets away from me." I nodded and could understand that. We're getting somewhere.

"Do you have a core team like Trenton?"

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Because I don't think the problem is with your time, it's with your team. The only reason you have a core team is to get help running the business. I also think you haven't taken on the roll as the boss. In the back of your mind you know Ranger might show up and take over at any time. That's how he is and I can't change that. He's use to being the boss and it can be very upsetting. So, we're going to work on that. Truthful I don't know anything about your building besides what I've seen. So, I'm going to work with you, not over you."

"You want to work with me?" He asked me. He really didn't believe what he was saying.

"Yes, the first thing I want to know is why the hell dose Ranger even have an office here?"

"It's his office,"

"It was his office, where is yours and Danger's office?"

"Mine's down the hall and Danger's still in his cube." I shook my head.

"You second in charge is on the floor with the rest of the guys. You're still in the office that's for the second. No, that's crazy. You will move into this office and Danger will move into your old office. That's the only thing you can do to really get anything done. That should help a little. Now we just have to get your cord team on board and you shouldn't have any problem." I nodded to myself and leaned back.

"You want me to just take over Ranger's office?" He asked me.

"It's not his office. You're the boss here. When he comes into the building you can't forget that. You're the boss. If he's here he's here to work alongside you not above, you. Trust me when he is your boss you'll know it. I am the boss on my floor and ever man knows it. They know I'm in change and my word goes. In the end, Ranger is still the boss over the whole building, but he won't under see my orders. If we have a problem, it's behind closed doors and we'll deal with it. What you also have to understand is while we're working its business first and our relationship second. What he did when he came in here wouldn't happen in our building, I fight my own battles and I deal with the men on my own. I had to earn my place and the respect from the men. And when I say I work my ass off I mean it. Rangerman isn't a 9 to 5 job."

"You think he might not fight your battles but he laid down a law years ago, that no one was to mess with you."

"And that was years ago, and I wasn't working for Rangerman at the time. Do you think if he fought my battles for me, he would just walk in here and just walk back out? He's still very provided, but I just over look that." I shrugged I pulled some papers towards me. I found a pen and started working.

"I thought you said you were done?" I looked up and saw Danger leaning in the doorway. Dom was still sitting in front of me watching me.

"I'm bored. I thought I gave you your marching orders?" I told Dom.

"I'm going to talk to Ranger first." I nodded and went back to work. A few papers later the phone rang, I picked it up and laid it on my shoulder. "Are you done?" I asked. I already knew who it was.

"I want you to come join us. Put down what you're working on, take the pens out of your hair and have someone bring you to me." Ranger asked me.

"Smart ass." I said and put the phone back. I got up and finger combed my hair. I found a few pens and put them back. I grabbed Dom and put him in my chair and gave him the pen. Then I walked out with Danger. He knew right away what I was doing.

"You sure do have a pair of lungs on you." He said to me.

"That wasn't even yelling." He smiled down at me. He walked me down a floor stopped at a door. I nodded for him to leave and opened the door. It was a small confine room. I shut the door behind me. Ranger and the kids were the only ones left in the room. Sara got up when she saw me and ran over to me. I put my arms around her. Even though I know Ranger was going to give me a look, I picked her up.

"Don't leave please." She said and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Ah sweeties," I sat down next to Ranger, he pulled the chair out for me. "The meeting over?" I asked him.

"Yes, he read the will for us. We made sure this is what the kids want. Then he left to talk to the rest of the family. We didn't want to plan anything that would get in the way of the family. So, he'll get the family to plan everything. Hunter is taking care of the court things for me." I nodded and rubbed Sara's back.

"After this we'll he finely goes home?" I asked.

"He'll fly up with us." I nodded and smiled down at Peter. He was sitting on Ranger lap. Julia was just happy as could be. I smiled at her and waved her over.

"How are you doing?" I asked her. She sat down on the table and I could see her smile drop a little.

"I'm glad we won't be spilt up." I leaned forward and brushed the hair away from her face.

"This isn't going to change anything." She just looked down at her feet.

"Baby it doesn't matter if it's the two of us, or if there's 10 of us. You know me enough to know that I don't treat people differently just because the amount of people around." She nodded and wiped her eyes.

"I don't want them treated like I was." He moved forward and wiped the tears away for her.

"Do you really think they would?" He asked her. She shook her head no. "It will take everyone time to get use to this change. It will also take time for us to get past the pain from losing your parents. But I won't treat them any different from you." She leaned forward and hugged him.

"Now can we go eat?" I asked. Sara laughed and nodded along with me. Ranger looked over at me and knew I've been pushing this aside for a while. He set peter on his feet and got up. He helped me up also. Sara got down on her feet and took my hand.

"Let go eat." He said and walked us out. He helped everyone in the SUV and pulled away.

"Are we going to stay at the house?" I asked him.

"Yes, the family will know where to find everyone and it would be easier to just pack up when we leave." I nodded and covered his hand with mine. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. "Tired?" He asked me.

"No, just waiting." I really needed to pee. Like if he knows what was really wrong, he moved his hand up just a little so he wasn't pushing against my balder. I couldn't wait till we went back to our building. I had my own bathroom and if I didn't the guys would let me use there's without thinking about it.

"Did you get throw to Dom?" He asked me.

"I don't know, I guess only time will tell." We slowed down and stopped. I opened my eyes and saw we we're in a parking lot. I looked around and didn't understand. But I just opened the door and got out. Julia was getting out also and I put my arm around her.

"Are you happy?" I asked her.

"And sad," I kissed her head and we followed everyone inside. It was beautiful. Ranger nodded to the bathroom. And I left right away. What was funny was the girls followed with me. I guess everyone needed to use the bathroom.

When we walked back out, I saw Peter at a table and Ranger was gone. We sat down around him.

"Where'd Ranger take off to?" I asked him.

"Some guy came over to the table and he walked away with him." I kissed his head.

"Give him some time and he'll get better at that." He looked up at me. "He's use to doing what he wants," He nodded, but I could see a smile.

"Are you ok with us coming to live with you?" He asked me. I took a drink of my water and nodded.

"I'm glad you get to stay with Julia. But I'm also going to need to learn a lot also. So, we're all going to need to learn how to live together. Never feel like you can't come talk to us." They all nodded and we're willing to do that. I was hungry and starting to get upset when Ranger still hasn't come back. I started looking for my phone.

"Babe?" I looked back and saw Ranging walking over to us with a guy. "Babe this is my cousin Anthony. Anthony this is Steph, my daughter Julia and Peter and Sara." I turned and shook the man's hand. He smiled and kissed my hand.

"It's nice to meet you Steph, and all of you. I hope you like the food." He said and turned around. Ranger walked around the table and sat down. He picked something up around the table and focused on me. He wanted to know what was going on.

"Anthony seams nice." I told him.

"Then why do I get the feeling you don't like him?" He asked me. All three kids looked down and covered their smiles.

"I just meet him," I said and shrugged. I smiled at him and was waiting for someone to come and take our order.

"Then what's wrong?" He asked me. I just took another drink.

"Dad," Julia just shook her head and paten him on the shoulder. I was about to give up. I'm hungry and I'm tired and yet again I need to go to the stupid bathroom. I got up and headed to the bathroom.

When I got back to the table their food. Ranger just smiled at me when I sat down. There was a huge pater in the middle of the table and everyone was eating from that. Then there was my plate. It was different from the rest. But I know once I smelled it, I would like it.

We all eat and enjoyed the food. When we were done, a young kid came and took out plates at the same time Anthony sat down desert for us. I let him dice me up a plate, but I didn't think I would like it. The kids eye just light up. I know they weren't use to going out and getting desert.

I did try it and it teased really good, but it didn't sit right with my stomach. Ranger was watching me and just smiled when I pushed my plate aside and took a drink of water. Then I saw him take a bit. I just looked at him. Was he playing around with me, or was he really eating this.

"Anthony owns this restaurant, but he makes Flan de Guayab himself." Ranger said and winked at me. I don't think I've seen Ranger eat a whole piece of cake before. He's shared off my plate a few times. "And I'll bring you back." Now I was smiling.

"Can you make this?" I asked him.

"No, not that nana hasn't tried to teach me. I believe the last time I almost set her kitchen on fire." The kids started laughing at that.

"So, there is something you're not good at. Who would believe that?" Julia asked.

"There are some things Ranger isn't good at. We just try and forget those." I told her. She was trying to get herself under control. Ranger just raised his eye brow again.

"What else isn't he good at?" Sara asked, she wanted to join in on the fun.

"Not being the boss, he's a natural leader. Communication, you're not really good at informing others of things." I said when he was making a face. Then he pulled out his blank face.

"But those are something he can learn to work on." Peter said.

"Yes, they are. That first one, doesn't really need to be worked on. That second one could use a little work. Normally when we're at home and working, it's not really needed. Everyone works as a team and knows what's going on. But as this building, there really isn't a lot of talking going on between Ranger and Dom. We'll see how good he is us." I told him. He nodded and looked up at Ranger.

"Ya you do kind of suck at it." Ranger looked down at the Peter.

"All this is really about me just walking away. I'll work on that." He said and put his arm behind Peter. "Now what does everyone want to do?" He asked us.

"I need to go shopping, I might have thought about everything for you. But I didn't for me. Even though everyone might have something to wear, I think it would be nice if we got something new to wear to the funeral." I told everyone. He nodded and looked around the table.

"You want to take us shopping?" Sara asked me.

"Your mama never took you shopping?" I asked her. She shook her head no.

"That's something that's going to change today. As much as Steph likes shopping, we would rather you picked out your own clothes. We might have something to say on some things, but fell free to pick out what you like." Ranger told them. He told us to use the bathroom while he would pay. He was waiting for us by the door.

"When we got home we're going to put side bars on the SUV's." I told Ranger.

"We'll get you something with them on. For now, I'm fine with helping you." He saw my face, but didn't say anything on it.

"I already have a car," He raised an eyebrow.

"Then what we find, I'll get it in black and put it under your contact as a company car." The kids were laughing in the back seat. He was smiling. "Or for a first you could not fight me and we'll get it in a color you like."

"I don't need you to buy me a car." I folded my arms and looked out of the window.

"It's a good thing you already have a car and I'll be buying you a SUV." He put his hand on my stomach.

"Why would I need a SUV if I already have a car?" I asked him.

"It will give you more room. It won't just be for you." I turned and looked at him. I thought about it and smiled at him finely.

"Alright then, buy one for you and I'll drive it." He nodded and was alright with that. He parked at the mall and everyone got out. I grabbed my purse and took Sara's hand. We walked in and started looking around. Ranger and Peter went off on their own.

"Why do you call him Ranger?" Sara asked me once we were alone.

"That's his nick name. When I meet him, that's what I called him? I guess it's something I'm used to, Carlos isn't a name I'm used to." I told her. She looked up at me.

"Carlos is a good name, why doesn't he use it?" She asked me.

"Carlos was an Army Ranger. I think that's where he got the name from. But if you want to you can ask him about it. Do you guys know what you want?" I asked them.

"What should we get?" Julia asked me.

"We'll my grandmother normal wears something bright. But I think we should stay with something nice and maybe a dress or skirt." I told them.

"Does it have to be black?" Julia asked me.

"I don't think so, but that's what everyone mostly wears. Ask your dad, he'll know." She smiled at me. They helped me shop for some things I would need for the next few days. Then helped me pick out a very nice gray dress. We did meet up with Ranger and He told them dark colors were expected, but if they didn't want to he didn't care. They both picked out really pretty dresses. Sara got a black and white pock a dot dress. Julia got a black dress with white belt. Peter got dress pants that were pin strips. He got a white dress shirt with a mint green tie. Ranger got a black suit. It cost more than all three of ours put together. But Ranger was like that.


	10. Chapter 10

"Steph, will you teach me to wear my shoes and walk?" Julia got black hells with a 2 inch heal.

"Yes," She smiled and I stopped Ranger to get a smooth. He got one for everyone, even himself. He held me to him and walked out with us. Everything went in the back and he helped all of us in.

"Is everyone going to want dinner?" He asked us when he pulled into the driveway.

"I'm hungry still." Peter told him.

"Me to." Julia said. We both looked back and I centered on Sara. She was asleep with the stair in her mouth. I smiled. We got out and Ranger slowly took the cup away and picked her up. I walked to the end of the driveway and waved the SUV over. It took a few minutes then it pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"I need your arms." They just gave me a look, I rolled my eyes and walked to the SVU and opened the back hatch. Before I could pick up a bag, two different arms reached out and grabbed all the bags. Peter was watching everything, I took his hand and walked inside with him.

"They can be helpful sometimes," He smiled at me.

"Where do you want them?"

"There's fine, thanks." They nodded and started walking out.

"Stop," Ranger said when they opened the door. They did at once, turned back around and looked at him. I looked from him to them. "Babe this is Dobbs and Green." Ranger finely said when they weren't catching on to what he wanted.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for the help." They nodded and left.

"Babe?" Ranger asked.

"Don't give me that look, I wanted the help and they were there to give it to me. Peter thought it was funny. Would you rather me carry them in?" He didn't answer me, just picked up the bags and walked away.

"Dose that happen a lot, you wave your arm and people show up?" Peter asked me.

"No but you should get used to being watched when Ranger thinks you're in danger. He doesn't thing we might be in danger, he just doesn't want people to show up without knowing about."

"Watching me?" He was worried.

"You won't see them. But if something happens and Ranger fills you're in danger, he'll have someone watch over you. It took me a few years to be able to pick the guys out." I told him and put a bag of chips on the bar.

"Would I be in danger?" He was worried again.

"There might be times, that things will happen and for some reason you might be in danger yes. But things in your life might make him do it also. Say someone's picking on you or you get into troubled. Things happen and life goes on." I told him.

"Dad's just protective, take it as a sign as he loves you." Julia said and took a chip.

"He just met me." Peter's eyes were big.

"He might not show it a lot but he has a very big heart." I brushed his hair back and just smiled at him. Ranger came in and I know he heard everything. He kissed me and opened the fridge.

"What would everyone like?" He asked us.

"Cook something and we'll eat it." I told him and took another chip. He grabbed some things and picked up the bag of chips as he passed us. "Hey?" I said and reached for it. He just raised it higher.

"Do you want me to cook or do you want to snack?" he asked me, looking down at me.

"Both?" He leaned down and kissed me. Then put the chips back and started cooking. I turned and leaned against the bar. Peter and Julia were just smiling at the scene.

"Fill me in on what happened today?" He told me.

"You're going to lose your office. That's where I think most of the problem is coming from. He still thinks you're the boss there. But I'll go back to the begging. After you left I called Tank to call in Dom and Danger. I asked them how they could allow everything could get that far behind. He got upset, that's when you came in. When you left we as I mean me got over it. I said some more and know I was getting nowhere and kicked Danger out. So, I asked a few questions and got to the bottom of the problem. It's you, so I'm kicking you out of the office and Dom is being put in there. Danger is going to move into his office and the core team is going to get on board and that's that."

"Want to go into the office tomorrow and make sure that gets done?" I looked back at him and he was smiling. "I'll make sure Danger comes picks you up in the morning and we'll go do something together." He kissed me and went back to cooking.

"Is that what you were talking about being the boss?" Peter asked me.

"Yes, but that was also me reading her. Steph really dose show everything on her face, trust me she will really want to go. She likes being the boss as much as I am." Ranger told him.

"I don't like being the boss, I just like everything to work right and do their job. I do my job, you do your job. Why can't everyone just do their job?" I said.

"If you want you can go with her tomorrow." Ranger said. I looked at him, and then looked over to Peter. He really looked like he wanted to come with me.

"You can come with me. Together I think we could get everyone to do what they should do. We'll leave Ranger and the girls to do their own thing." He was really smiling now.

"Sara," Ranger said softly to me. I looked back at him and saw he was nodding to the wall. I walked out and slowly walked into Sara's room. She was crying into her pillow. I walked over to her and rubbed her back.

"Sweetie, why are you upset."

"My daddy isn't ever coming back, I know he won't just walk throw the door one day. But I'm going to miss him."

"I'm really sorry this had to happen honey. I know they won't ever come home, but I do know they are looking down on you even right now. They love you and only want what's best for you." I wiped her eyes and held her.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know that's where my grandfather is and I know he's always watching me. I still miss him also." She pulled back and looked up at me.

"Dose it still hurt?"

"Something's when I think about him. But not all the time. With time, it will lesson, you'll never forget them and you'll never stop loving them. Julia still has her papa, but don't think you won't have him also. For the rest of your life you'll always have him in your life also. Your daddy made sure you would always have someone there." Her eyes were tearing up again.

"You won't?" She was sad about that.

"Yes, I will, I'll always be there. You don't have to worry about me not being there. You see Ranger and I are partners, where I go, he follows and where he goes I follow." She smiled at me.

"But you weren't with him, when he came down here." She said.

"It's a new-found partnership. Neither of us have been willing to let the other one know how we really fell about the other. For years, we've been tangoing around our love for each other." She giggled at that.

"What made you tell him?" She asked.

"He told me first. I never would have told him. Julia bet him that I loved him. I guess that made him start to think. He told me a few nights before we came here." I smiled at her.

"Won't we get in the way?"

"Not at all sweetie. Trust me you'll never get in the way." She was really smiling at me and her eyes were bright.

"I'm hungry, is there anything to eat."

"Yes, Ranger is cooking dinner. But even if he wasn't, you could always look around for something to eat yourself. We will never care, there are a lot of things you'll need to learn about us. For the most part we're laid back." She took my hand when I stood up.

"Do you have room for all of us?" I heard Julia ask when we walked into the kitchen.

"Not at the penthouse. Steph took it over. But everyone will have enough space in my house."

"I do not take it over." I said and put my hands on my hips. He just smiled at me and moved the last of the food to the table.

"Babe I need an extra closet just for my things." He said and walked me to the table and sat me down.

"You have a house, you never told me that. How big is it, are you sure we'll all fit in it?" Ranger sat down. Everyone was looking at him. We all wanted to know.

"Trust me, baby it will fit everyone." Was all he would tell us.

"Steph?"

"Don't ask me, your dad hasn't ever token me or even told me about his bat cave. I just found about it when we were coming here and I asked him the same thing." They all just looked at me.

"You have a bat cave?" Peter's face was priceless.

"Not like that, Ranger is my own personal batman."

"I wouldn't be so sure babe," Ranger face was all out smiling. His eyes were shinning and he was really going to say that and not tell me anything else. I glared at him.

"How much room dose this house have?" Julia asked me.

"You'll have to wait and see it with everyone else." He dished up his plate and held it for Sara.

"Can I have my own room?" Sara asked.

"You may, you might not like the room for as it is and we'll help you change it to how you like it. Everyone but you, you can't change the room." He said and looked over at me.

"Why can't I, what if I don't like the sheets?"

"You'll like the sheets. And all of you will just have to wait till we get home to see the house." I put my head in my hands and gave him a sad face.  
"Not even the guys have seen the house. They know about it, but I haven't let anyone into it." He said to me.

"Why not?" I wanted to know. He just looked over at me and I could read it all over his face. He builds it for me. I leaned forward and kissed him.

We eat and moved into the living room to watch some TV. Everyone cuddled up and watched the TV together. It was nice and it just felt right. Before the movie was over, I was asleep.

The next morning I was up at six and went for a run with Ranger. We'll he ran and I walked. On my way, back to the house, Ranger meet up with me and took my hand.

"You built a house for me?" I asked him.

"I built a house for the both of us. There's even a new house for Rex, if you can pull him away from his new home." I just smiled.

"You built a house for Rex?"

"No I bought a house for Rex, but if he would like to stay at Rangerman with the guys I'm sure we could take the kids to find something to put in the house."

"He really doses like hanging out with the guys. He doesn't like kids and dose bit. Maybe we could get something to fill that house." He kissed my head.

"I'm sure we could. How are you, with everything's that's been going on, I haven't had a chance to ask?" He told me.

"I'm fine, don't worry so much. I'm just five mouths along and I'm small still. The only thing that really has changed is I'm always hungry and I have to pee all the time. What I'm really bummed about is my bobs haven't got any bigger." He stopped me and turned me in front of him. Slowly he planned my breast and kissed me with more passion then he has in mouths.

"Babe," He said and looked down at me.

"What?" He looked down and I followed. I saw what he was showing me. "When did that happen?"

"Ellea has been taken good care of you." He turned us and we started walking again. "Babe?" I looked up at him and knew he could tell something was wrong.

"I just think something's missing." He kissed my head.

"Nothing's missing, I'll just have to prove it to you." We walked inside and saw everyone was at the table eating.

"We're we gone that long?" I asked Ranger.

"No I woke up a few minutes after you left. They just woke up." Julia told me. They all nodded, Sara wasn't looking at us. I sat down next to her. I brushed her hair out of her face.

"We're you worried, that we left and weren't going to come back?" I asked her. She nodded. She wasn't going to be alright with us disappearing for a long time. "I'm sorry, this is one thing we're going to have to work on." She turned and hugged me.

"Julia told me you were going for a run, but when you didn't come back I started to worry." She said.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. You stuck with us." She hugged me tightly. Ranger sat a cup down for me.

"What's that?" Sara said.

"It's tea, would you like to try it?" She took a drink and gave it back to me.

"It doesn't tease as good as it smells." She said at once. I took the cup and washed down the pill. She was making a face. Ranger sat down a cup of juice for her. She took a drink at once.

"Don't worry not many people like it." Ranger said to her. I kissed her head, took the cup and headed to the bathroom. I showered and got ready for the day. I didn't have a uniform, so I just wore jeans and a tee shirt. When I walked back into the kitchen Danger was sitting at the bar drinking a cup of coffee with Ranger.

"Are you going to eat before you go?" Ranger asked me.

"Yes," I grabbed a jar of pickles and butter. I popped some toast in the toaster and filled up my cup. When it was done, I spear butter on my toast and cut up pickles and laid them all over. I cut it in half and took a bit. I looked up and saw Danger was staring right at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Your, she's, why doesn't anyone know?" Danger asked looking right to Ranger. I just looked from one to the other.

"A few people know and that's the way we want it right now." Ranger said and gave him a look.

"How did you get that from toast?" I asked. He smiled at me.

"Every time I see you you're bathing pickles in something. My wife did the same thing with bananas. I should have noticed it the first day." He said.

"You have a wife?" I leaned against the bar.

"Why is that so surprising?" He asked me.

"Because I'm around the guys all the time and I get nothing out of them. I've known you a few days and you just told me you were married." He just smiled bigger.

"Not many guys can do it. Juggle the job and a family. They might not say anything because they don't want you to know they can do it." I nodded and understood at once what he was telling me. It sucked and it hurt that they wouldn't share that with me, look at all the crap they listened to me about Ranger. "I'm going to guess that's a side effect." He said to Ranger. Ranger put his arms around me and kissed me.

"How do you do it?" I asked him.

"Carmen keeps him on a short leash. Carmen is also a cousin of mine. Her temper is even worst then yours." Ranger kissed me again.

"Are you related to everyone?" I asked him.

"I worked with Ranger for a while before I even meet Carmen. We didn't get along to say the less. One night we bumped into each other at a cube." He said.

"And?" I asked and leaned against the bar looking at him and waited.

"They had a one night stand and he left the next morning while she was in the shower. She came to me a week later and was pissed off. Like I told you, I don't take woman yelling at me very well. So, when I found out what it was really about, I cuffed her to her chair, grabbed Danger and did the same. I left them alone." Ranger told me.

"But couldn't you get away?" I asked him.

"Ranger has cuffs are special made. Only his master key works on them." Danger said and wasn't all that happy about it. I turned around and looked up at him.

"Is that true?" I asked him.

"Yes, but the ones I would give you are just normal. Not that I wouldn't mind unlocking you from the shower again." He leaned down and kissed me. Danger was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Peter asked everyone.

"Danger was just telling me how he meets his wife, are you ready?" Peter nodded and took my hand.

"It was funny?" Peter asked me.

"It was, when you get older I'll teach you what he's mama should have taught him. I grabbed my purse and we walked outside. There behind the SUV was a sliver BMW. The doors unlocked and I opened the back door for Peter. He was all smiles and got in. I saw a booster sit in the middle.

"Yes, it's my wife's car, I had to take Sofia to school today." He said when he got in.

"You have kids?" Peter asked.

"Yes, I have three. Sofia is 6 and Eva and Victor are almost one." Peter just nodded. I looked in the back.

"If it's her car, why only one sit?" I asked him.

"Try putting three seats in a car. If you would look in my SUV you would have seen all three seats." I nodded and smiled back at Peter. He was being quiet.

"Why did you wait six years between them?" I asked him. He didn't answer right away. I looked over and saw his smile was gone.

"Just because Ranger locked us in a room didn't mean we worked anything out. After we got out, it was like she disappeared. I didn't see her for a while later." He told me.

"A while like more than 9 mouths?" I asked him. He nodded and I could tell he was done with talking about it. "I'm sorry, but that's what happened when you guys don't talk." I folded my arms and looked out the window.

"I'm getting the felling you're not talking about me anymore. When did you tell Ranger?" He asked me.

"He told me a few days ago," Was all I said. He didn't ask anything more. No one said anything more till me pulled into the parking lot. I opened the back door when Peter couldn't get out.

"You locked me in?" Peter said to Danger.

"Sorry child locks, Sofia thinks it's funny to open the door and run off." Peter took my hand and we headed up the stairs. The staff was just walking out from the staff meeting. Danger walked us into the conference room. I sat down on the other end of the table and Peter sat down to me.


	11. Chapter 11

"Watching?" Dom asked me and was sitting on the other end of the table watching me. I nodded, just like that he got the meeting on its way. I pulled out a note pad and gave it to Peter when I know he was getting board.

"So, who are you?" The guy asked sitting closest to Dom.

"Boomer, also known as Stephanie Plum." Salivary said. I smiled at him. He winked, grabbed his things and walked out. "Boomer isn't something you should call her." He told everyone and shut the door behind him.

"You're Boomer?" Another guy asked me.

"It's really just Steph, but yes I'm Boomer. And you are?" I folded my arms and leaned back. He just got up and started walking out.

"That's Ben, Josh, Kit, Alex and Tag." Dom told me. I looked each man over and couldn't place their jobs.

"Job's?" I asked.

"Ben is in charge of the range. Kit is the medic. Tag works in installs." He said then was thinking about the rest.

"I know what Salivary dose, what about the other two?"

"What dose Les?" Dom asked me with a smile.

"I get your point, but Les is one guy and can't sit still long enough to say his name. He also dose pitch in when help is needed. So, what does the other three guys do?" I asked again.

"Josh runs the control room. Alex, is the pickup man." I nodded and looked all the guys over again. I'm getting the feeling I wasn't really welcome. But then I just smiled.

"Are you very busy today?" I asked Dom.

"You have a few hours." Dom was smiling at me.

"Then let's get to work." I said, took Peter's hand and walked out. I opened Ranger's office door and looked around. "Do you want to keep the desk?" I asked him. Then looked back and saw everyone was behind me.

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked. I walked over to the desk and dialed Ranger.

"Yo,"

"How dose Ellea buy everything?"

"Babe?"

"They can't keep the same stuff." He was quite for a long time. I leaned against the desk. The door was still open, but only Dom and Danger were still there. Everyone else was gone. I pointed to the cough.

"Open the bottom droll on the left." He told me. I walked around the desk and opened it. I stiffed throw everything and found an envelope with Rangerman's on it. I opened it and saw a black cried card in it. "Have fun." He said and hung up. I put the phone back and leaned back against the desk.

"Why can't we keep everything the same?" Dom asked me.

"Because it won't be right. You won't forget that this was once Ranger's office. So, everything's out besides the filing cabins. And work your mojo and get everything." I said and handed them the card.

"I don't think you want to do that Steph. My wife won't even let me pick out something simple." Danger said.

"But you're the ones with mojo."

"We'll pack up and you order everything." Dom said and walked out. I picked up the phone and called the Trenton office.

"Rangerman,"

"It's Steph you need to get me throw to Ellea,"

"What's wrong, did something happen?" Bobby said.

"Why are you on the phone, Bobby get over yourself. I just need to talk to Ellea. Put me throw." I told him. It was quite then the sweets voice was there. We talked for a few minutes, I gave her the card number and she told me everything would get done.

"You're like the boss also." Peter asked me sitting in front of the desk.

"In our building, I'm share the second with Tank. I run everything in the building and he runs everything outside of the building. I'm just use to running the floor." I told him.

"Can I see where you work?"

"Of course, but if I yell just walk away." He smiled. By the time the guys got into the office, the phone rang. I picked up the phone.

"Yo," I said.

"Are you Steph?"

"Ya why?"

"There's some trucks here that said they were for you, are you moving in?" He asked me.

"No there for Dom and Danger. Can you get everything sent up?" The phone line just went dead. I hung up the phone and got up. Peter took my hand and walked out with me. We went into Danger's new office and saw it was empty.

"They work fast." Peter said.

"They have the right mojo." He laughed with me and helped me tell the guys where we wanted everything. When this office was all set up, we did Dom's new office. When we were done, we stood back and looked over our handy work.

"I think you have the right mojo. It took my mother weeks to just do Julia's room. This was really cool and were done before lunch." Peter said.

"Thank you, why do you call her your mother?" I asked him and sat down on the couch.

"She's still my mother, but she wasn't a good mom. Before she was mean to Julia she was really mean to us." He said and looked down.

"Did she hit you like Julia?" I asked him. His eyes tear up. I pulled him to me and held him. "I'm sorry honey." I brushed his hair back and rubbed his back. When he heard something, he pulled away from me. Dom walked in and just stood by the door.

"You have to thank Ellea for everything, but welcome to you new office." He just looked around and couldn't believe it.

"But," He just stood there.

"Wow," I looked around him and saw Ranger and the girls.

"You called Ellea didn't you." Ranger asked.

"How did you know. But yes, I did, now can we go and get something to eat?" I asked him. He held out his hand for me. Peter and I walked over to him and headed out. We picked up lunch and drove back to the house. When we pulled into the driveway. There was a black SUV parked out front and two different guys leaning against it.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. Then I saw the car's in front of it.

"Someone felt the need to go inside. Jessy said they got the key from under the mat." Ranger said.

"Who?" Julia asked us. I looked back and saw everyone was scared. I just smiled at them and got out. I helped Sara out and took her hand.

"Everything is going to be ok." She grabbed my hand tighter. We walked around the SUV. She waved at the guys. They both nodded at to her.

"Will they stay there?" She asked me.

"They won't leave till I tell them to." Ranger said and opened the door. Julia walked in first and we followed. We got a few feet inside and four people started yelling. Sara pulled her hands out of mine and ran outside. I watched her and she ran all the way to the guys and hid behind them. They were both surprised and just looked at her. Then got what she was doing and stood in front of her.

"What is going throw your fucking minds." I yelled at all of them, grabbed Peter's hand and walked out with Julia. I slammed the door behind us and I could hear Ranger yelling at once. I knelled down next to Sara behind the guys.

"How are you sweetie?" I asked her.

"I don't like them." She said.

"You don't have to worry about them, Ranger's taken care of them." She looked around the guys and looked at the house.

"Are you sure?" She asked me.

"Trust me, no one crosses him without hearing about it." I told her.

"She's right," One of the guys said. Just like that her face light up. She took my hand and I stood back up.

"You guys did a good job, as surprising as it was." They nodded to me. We all stood there till the door opened. Ranger was there, waiting for us to head back inside. He picked pick Sara and shut the door behind us.

"Steph this is Kevin's brother Kurt and his wife Robin and Kyle and his wife Polly." He said and I saw something in his eyes. He was laughing at her name.

"It's nice to meet you." I said to them.

"Why do you think you can raise these children?" One of the women asked me.

"Where were all of you when their parents killed? Raising kids isn't all about rules and making sure everything goes right. It's about taking care of their needs. Both of them have in case of eminency contacts. But here you are days later, finely showing up and scaring them half to death. I understand family is important and I will never stand in your way to see them. But if you ever come around them again and pull this shit again, I won't just stand by and allow Carlos to try and put you in your place. I will put you in your place. Now this isn't my house and I can't kick you out. But watch yourselves." I told them. I grabbed the bags off the floor and walked into the kitchen with Peter.

"I wormed you," Ranger said and followed behind us. "Give me the food and I'll warm it up." Ranger told me. I sat the bag's down. Pulled everything out for him. He didn't put Sara down, just moved around holding her.

"You're just going to act like we're not here?" One of the guys said. I looked over and saw they were still standing in the living room.

"Are you're going to keep acting like, well acting up. You know I control a whole building and have to put up with a whole lot of men acting up, I found out that was a great way of dealing with adults that aren't acting their age. Most the time I'm sitting at my desk, but I'm hungry and this will work also. Don't forget you let yourself in and you can let yourself out if you don't want to grow up."

"Babe," Ranger sat a plate down and pulled out a chair for me. He sat Sara down next to me and went to get the rest of the plates.

"Who's outside?" I asked him.

"Pickson and Dates, there new but I think I'll put in a good word for them to Dom. Acting on their feet like that,"

"Can I keep them?" Sara asked him. Ranger started shaking his head no. Then smiled down at her and nodded.

"I'll transfer then to our office and you can keep them." Her face light up again. She was almost hopping in her seat as she was eating.

"Can you do that?" Julia asked.

"There have been a few men who wanted to transfer down here. It might take about a mouth, but yes I can do that."

"Who wants to leave?" I asked him.

"Two guys from the night shift,"

"It's not someone I know is it, it better not be someone I know." I told him and got up. I throw way the food I didn't eat and washed off my plate. "My family is just the way I like it. Clay might not get the memo all the time. But the family is just fine." Everyone was watching me.

"Babe," Ranger just raised an eye brow at me.

"Ranger?"

"I'm pretty sure you don't know them. Ram wasn't happy to know they wanted to be transferred either." I nodded and walked back over to the table and sat down. "We'll you be alright now?"

"I'll talk to Ram about it later, Bobby wants to talk to me also. Tank probable is overrun with stacks of paperwork. Lester is going out of his mind in the office and will need to get out the minute we get home. Victor you could never tell anything with him, I miss Hector." I put my chin on my hands. Ranger just smiled at me.

"One thing I did learn today," He told me. I saw the girl look down at their plates.

"Tomorrow?" I asked him. He nodded and looked over to Peter. He was looking down at his plate also. Julia already told him. "That sucks," I rubbed Peters back. He let me for a few minutes, then pushed his chair back and ran out of the kitchen. Julia nodded and got up also. Sara moved over a chair and sat on Ranger's lap and cried softly. I cleaned up everything and pushed all the chair's in.

"You just let a 9-year-old to run outside alone?" One of the woman asked me.

"If you were so worried why didn't you go after him, or were you trying to prove that we're un fit to watch kids." I said as I walked over to the door and opened it. There standing by the guys was Peter.

"Who could you know that's where he would end up?"

"There highly trained, if they can't keep kept their eyes on a young child who's upset, they would lose their job. If the next thing you're going to ask is who did we know he was really with them, they texted Ranger. Anything else?" I asked them.

"Why do you think you can take care of three kids?" I moved over and sat down.

"Why do you think you can take care of one teenager and two children?" I asked back.

"We have children?"

"And where are they, taking care of themselves. At home with some babysitter. In the past few days I know more about those kids then you could know in all the years you might know them. From what I can also see, we care about them more." I shrugged.

"It's not about who's better, it's about who their parents thought would take care of them better and who they want to be with. If all you're here for is to see if you can't get us to hand them over to you, you're wasting your time. The judge has already signed the paperwork." Ranger said as he walked throw the living room and down the hallways.

"What?" One of the woman screeched? I got up and walked right to the door.

"It was very nice to meet you, now get out." I said and saw both men stand up straight. Both woman just huffed and stomped out.

"Sorry about them," I just smiled at them and shook their hands and watched them head to their cars. I held out my hand for Peter. But I shut the door and sat down on the step. He came over and sat down next to me.

"You do know it's alright to be sad for the loss of your parents." He looked over at me.

"I bet Ranger never cry's."

"Don't be so sure about that. I've seen him cry a few times. But if you don't want to let anyone see you cry, I'll understand. Normal I don't like to cry in front of people either." He nodded again.

"I don't like those people."

"Haven't you met them before?" He shook his head no.

"And I'm glad I didn't have to go with them. I like you and Ranger. Your nice and take care of us really good. I also really want to see the bat cave." I kissed his head.

"So, do I, all I know about is that it has a house for a hamster. You see for a few years now I've had a pet hamster's named Rex. But he lives at the building now, we were thinking about getting another one for that house." He looked up at me.

"You'll let us have pets?"

"Sure, do you have something in mind?" He just looked at me.

"I always wanted a pet, sisters just don't want to do the same things I do. My whole life I just wanted to have a dog, you know like what you see in movies. To play with me, sleep in my bed with me." He said and shrugged.

"You know I always wanted a dog also. I bet if we ask Ranger, he'll take you to find a dog." He looked up at me and he didn't believe me. "We'll make sure there's room first, before we ask." He nodded and put his head in his hands.

"Do you really think he'll let me?"

"I'm sure if he won't he'll give you a really good reason. But I don't think he'll say no, he wants everyone to be happy and fell at home. He won't buy your affection, but money isn't important to him, people are."

"So, I shouldn't get my hopes up?"

"You sure should get your hopes up. When we get back home and see there's room we'll sit down with him and you can explain to him what you want. If he says no, both of us will deal with it. And we'll try and do something to fill that hole." He hugged me.

"Thanks Steph." I hugged him back.

"You're welcome Peter. What kind of things do you want to do that your sister won't join in with you?"

"Sports, but my mother wouldn't let me play either." I smiled down at him.

"Then you're going to be really surprised when we get home. I can't say I like to watch them all, but I love watching the games and I have a whole group of guys that can't get enough of them. You'll even see Ranger go out with the guys and play, I'm sure you can join in on it and you can play with kids your own age also." It was so easy to make these kids happy.

"You like sports?"

"Sure do, I'm a daddy's girl. My dad loves watching the game and I watch it with him as much as I can."

"Would he like me?"

"You'll be the first boy in my family, he might never give you back. He's always wanted a grandson, right now he has about 4 granddaughters. I know you might not be ready for a whole family yet. But you are part of Ranger and mine family."

"What if you leave like my parents?"

"You might not understand how much I love Steph, I'll never let her leave me. She won't ever let me leave either. I might have to work, but if anything happened and I got hurt. She would make me get over it, as I could do it to her also."

"What if you both got hurt at the same time."

"You think Tank would let us leave and make him do all the work. Just wait to meet the guys, we hold the building together. They would never let us leave. You can't always worry about this, I'm sorry you're worried. But we're here to stay." Ranger picked Peter up and sat him on his lap.

"We will give you the time you need to get past the loss, but we will always be there for you, no matter what changes in our life. There might be times where one of us will get hurt, but don't worry about something taking someone away from you."

"It could happen?"

"It could, everyone loses something sometime in their life. But if you can't forget that, you will miss out on some really great things. If I didn't put that aside I would have never let Steph in and I never would be the man I am today. I'm better at closing up and not letting my emotions get in the way." Ranger told him. Peter nodded and leaned against him.

"Does that mean I have to find a girl?"

"No silly, that just meant Ranger needed someone to show him that being like he was, wasn't the right way to live. It's a guy thing, not showing emotion, being this big strong person. But if you don't have emotion's you can't really have fun. Fun is an emotion."

"I like to have fun."

"That's a start, being a man is not a bad thing, but closing off the world is. If you don't want to show others when you're upset, think of something fun and push aside the sadness." I told him.

"We'll stick together and let the girls do their own thing." Ranger said and was smiling.

"I like that idea, I don't like shopping." Ranger laughed.

"Then you'll really like Ellea, she buys my clothes for me." Ranger told him.

"Really, you don't mind. I hate when my mother would buy my clothes."

"Ellea has a good eye for what you like, she'll help at first. Then we'll have to do it ourselves. Steph will help us, she's just as good." Ranger told us.

"What will tomorrow be like?" Peter asked after some silence.

"There will be a viewing, then after that there will be service. It's being help at your father's church. After that everyone will go to the burial site. You will get to say goodbye. We'll stay as long as you want, then back at the church there will be a lunch." He told the both of us.

"Do we have to go?" We looked back and saw both girls standing in the door. I moved over and let Julia sit there. Sara sat on my lap.

"You don't want to go to the funeral?" I asked her.

"No I don't want to go to that lunch. No one's going to be happy that we get to stay with you guys. I would just like to miss the drama." I leaned over and kissed her head.

"If you want to miss that part, no one will care. I'm pretty sure we'll find better food somewhere else." Ranger just raised an eye brow at me.

"If the three of you don't want to go, then we won't. But I don't want you to miss out of anything. Sunday, we will be flying back to Trenton." Ranger told us.

"I don't want to go," Sara told him.

"Me neither." Peter folded his arms.

"Then we'll find something to eat somewhere else." Ranger told us. He was really smiling at me now. We sat outside watching the sun go down, when all three of the kids were asleep, Ranger and the guys helped take everyone in. I grabbed three beers and gave them to the guys and sat down on Ranger. He didn't say anything to the guys about it.


	12. Chapter 12

Just like that she fell asleep. She held out all day for the kids, and then was out in a blink once they were.

"We hear stories about her, but they weren't anything like this." Dates said. Pickson just nodded.

"She's one of a kind. I have an offer for you. How would you fell about being transferred?" I asked them.

"No one gets transferred to the Trenton office." Pickson said.

"Normal that's true, but two guys from the night crew want to move down here. There places won't be open, but I'll have two slots open. Sara wants to keep you and you showed me you can do your jobs."

"We're getting transferred because a girl wants to keep us?" Pickson asked me. I laughed at them. They didn't like the idea very much.

"I'll allow her to think that because there might be times where someone will need to watch over her. But you're being transferred because you proved to think on your feet. We don't normally let new people in, because we're a close net team."

"You lost me." Dates said.

"The last time I let someone transfer in, they didn't do their job and Steph got hurt. My whole cord team pulled me aside and told me they wouldn't let someone else in. That's why I put an end to it. Truthfully, we're been under staffed for a while, but everyone works together and gets it done. If you can protect two small children, you should be able to do the job." I told them. They opened their beers and took a drink.

"What will the job be?"

"What you're doing now, you'll be in the field. Our building dose work a little different than this one. And don't think because I think you can do the job the men will. You'll have to prove yourself." They nodded and I could see they were really thinking about it.

"Alright, when dose this happen?"

"I'll put the paperwork throw when we get back. A few weeks, no longer then a mouth."

"Your one lucky guy." Dates said and nodded to Steph.

"Yes, I am, do you know your shifts been over for hours." I asked them. They just looked at me. I was really going to like these two. They protected my family before anything else.

"That's why we got the job?" Pickson asked me.

"No, you will get paid for your time though. You wouldn't be drinking if you were still on the job." They both looked at their beers and it was like the light bulb went off in their head.

"Dose she normal do things like that?" Dates asked me.

"I did say our building was different. She's use to the guys watching over her. If she stopped somewhere she'll get them something also. It better than what she did at first. She did everything in her power to make their jobs harder."

"What changed?"

"You'll have to ask her, I have no clue." They laughed, when their beer was gone. They left. They did ask a few more things about their job and I told them what it would be like. I put Steph to bed and moved behind her. Before I could even go to sleep. Someone knocked on the door. I pulled on my pants and opened the door. Sara was standing there and there were tears in her eyes. I picked her up and walked back into her room.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"They're gone." She just cried. I held her and let her cry. I talked softly in her ear in Spanish and just like Steph she claimed down. Then she fell asleep. That was easy, I covered her and kissed her head. She was just like Steph.

I got back into bed and rolled Steph back on her side. I couldn't help but think what this child would be like. I thought as I covered her stomach with my hand. Julia was nothing like Rebecca. But Sara who just met Steph were so much alike. Peter was a boy trying so hard to be a man, Rebecca was trying to stop that. I couldn't wait to see him grow up.

Who would have thought I would want a family? I smiled and fell asleep holding Steph and our un born child.

Steph didn't wake up when I moved away from her. I wanted to let her sleep. When I got back from my run, Steph was sleeping in the bed with Sara and Julia. I checked Peter's room and he was out cold. It's a good think I bought a king size bed.

I grabbed my clothes and took a shower. The smell of coffee woke Steph and brought her walking into the kitchen. I gave her a cup of tea.

"I'm going to learn how to cook." She told me.

"Why?"

"You can't always do it. I could learn how to cook."

"I know babe." She leaned against me while I cooked the rest of breakfast. She helped me move everything to the table. I told all three breakfast was ready. She was waiting for everyone.

After we eat, everyone got ready. Steph helped Sara with her hair as Peter and I sat on the couch waiting.

"Girl's take too long." He told me.

"When you get older, you'll be glad they do." He gave me a look. I put my arm around him and sat there to wait. I was about to call them and tell them it was time, when all three walked down the hallway. They all looks sad but beautiful.

With help, they get into the SUV and I drove to the church. Dates and Pickson were following and someone else was watching the house. They stayed in the parking lot and as I helped Peter down as Steph was helping Sara. I really didn't like that, but as I was watching her I noticed she was just lifting with her arms.

Together we walked into the church and got into the line with everyone else. Slowly we made it into the room and in front of the coffins. Even Steph cried. When I knew the people behind us were getting upset, I picked Sara up and lead everyone else out.

Julia found a stop in the back and everyone sat down. I made sure Sara was covered, but I didn't move her off me. I put my arm around Peter and held him to me. Steph was doing the same with Julia.

The serves got on its way and not once were the kids menschen. When they started walking the coffins out, all the kids got really upset. Once they were past the door we followed behind them. We drove behind the hers to the burial site. This time I helped everyone out. Steph stayed close to me, she never could make it throw a funeral.

We stayed in the back and stayed together. The preacher didn't say a few words when Steph broke down. I put my arm around her. She held Julia close and Peter was between us. He was staying strong.

When he was done talking everyone left. They didn't even care. I moved us closer and let them say goodbye like they should have had a chance before. The preaches nodded to me and gave us space. I put Sara down and turned her towards the coffins. She started to sit down and I picked her up again.

"What happens?" She asked and pointed to her parents.

"They we'll be lowered into the ground and covered." She looked up at me. "There head stones will always tell us where they are and who they are." I walked her around and showed her. Then I read it. It didn't say anything about the kids. I was pissed. Steph and the other two kids came over and looked at the head stone also.

"Can we go?" Peter asked me. Everyone was nodding. I put my hands-on Steph's back and led everyone to the SVU. They were quiet the whole way home. I was going to stop for food, but I think everyone would rather like to eat at the house. Steph smiled at me when I pulled into the driveway.

"Mind reader." I leaned over and kissed her.

"Come on, let's change and eat." She got out and helped Sara. Peter and Julia just hopped out.

"So, were leaving Sunday?" She asked me.

"Yes, but the plane doesn't have a set time. We'll start packing up everything you want to take with you tomorrow. If it's too much we'll get a truck to drive it up and we'll fly up with a bag for each of you." Julia nodded.

"What should we take?"

"Anything you want." They all just nodded and walked into their rooms to change. I started cooking. They all came back and were in their PJ's. They sat down while I cooked, we eat in silence.

"Can we leave tomorrow if everything's packed?" Peter asked. I looked over to Steph for the answer.

"Why do you want to leave?" I asked him.

"Everything reminds me of them." He said and looked down at his plate. I looked at each of their faces and saw they really wanted to leave when they could.

"We'll leave when everyone is ready to leave." Just like that, they got up and ran out of the kitchen.

"Wait," Steph yelled after them. Slowly all three of the walked into the kitchen. "Clean up after yourself, then go pack." They were all smiles and cleaned up after themselves.

"I'll call Hunter and let him know we'll be leaving earlier." I told her and got up. She kissed me and went to help them.

I called Hunter and told him we might be leaving early. He said he would be ready. I headed back into the house and just stopped. There was bags and boxes already ready. I walked into our room and packed up. Then walked into each of their rooms. Steph was helping Sara.

"Do you want any help?" I asked Peter. He nodded and let me help him pack up. "Are you sure you want to leave so soon?" I asked him.

"Yes, but if you want us to stay. We will." I shook my head.

"We'll leave when you're ready." He smiled and with my help we got the rest of his room packed up. There were a few things he didn't want to take. We took everything outside and sat it down with the rest. Sara and Steph were still packing. Peter turned on the TV and I went to help Julia.

"Thank you," She said to me.

"For what Baby."

"Letting them come also. I was really worried that they might have to go somewhere crappie." She told me.

"Now you get to watch over them. Do you want to leave?" I asked her.

"Yes, everything around here reminds me of them. The good or the bad. Can we take some pictures also?" I nodded to her.

"You can take whatever you want." She hugged me. I held her to me and kissed her head. "But if you try and take one of those couches, it might not make it." She started laughing.

"They are really ugly." Together we packed up her room. When we walked out with some boxes, the guys were walking out with some. I just kissed Steph. The kids took a box and put something's to reminded them of their parents. When they were done, we got them all in their coats and got into the SUV. The guys and Hunter were following me to the plate. My pilot was already for us. Steph got the kids in the plane and we moved the boxes in.

When the plane landed, I looked around and just smiled.

"Want help?" Hunter asked me. I nodded and picked up Sara. He took her and headed down. I grabbed Peter and followed him. When I got down the stairs, I saw the guys standing there.

"Man?" Tank asked.

"There's boxes, Julia and Steph." They all moved at once. We put them in the SUV and moved aside. 5 minutes later, everything was put in the SUV's. Hunter took off already. They guys got in their SUV's and followed behind me. When I got to the gate, I leaned over and kissed Steph on the neck.

"Babe wake up," She moved her head towards me. "You're going to miss the house." She was wide awake. She leaned back and shook each kid. As they were waking up, I pushed in the code and drove throw.

"Wow," Everyone said at once. I pulled behind the house and the garage door opened. Three SUV's pulled in.

"Who's that?" Peter asked.

"The guys," Steph said and the door opened. Bobby helped me out. "Tank, Bobby, Lester, Victor, Ram, Hal and Cal. Guy's this is Peter, Sara and Julia." They helped them out also. Ranger had Sara. She wasn't so sure about them. They got the bags and we walked inside.

"Wow," I said again.

"Two years should be a wow little girl." I looked back at him and saw he was really looking around. Everyone was looking around. Ranger took everyone on a tour. This place was huge, but didn't look all that big, because how everything was placed.

Upstairs there were 10 bedrooms. Each kid picked their own room. Then I showed Steph our room. She loved it and laid right down on the bed. I leaned against the door and watched her fill under the pillow.

"These are your sheets." She said after she moves the pillows away.

"Babe," She looked over at me. I watched her get off the bed and watched her walk over to me.

"I believe there was something you were going to show me?" She asked. I put my arms around her and pulled her to me. She looked up at me and was biting her lips. I picked her up and shut the door with my foot.

"Babe," I laid her down on the bed.

"That's not what I want, I want the old Ranger." She said when she pulled back from the kiss. I'm just looked at her.

"Babe," She moved out from under me and off the bed.

"Ranger I love you, there's always passion between us. But it's different." She said and walked out. I put my head on the bed.

"Struck out?" I looked over and saw Tank leaning against the doorframe.

"She drives me mad." I told him and pushed off the bed. He just smiled at me. We walked out of the kitchen and opened the fridge. I grabbed us a bar and head to the porch.

"What is it now?" He asked me. I leaned against the railing and opened my beer.

"Things are different between us, she thinks?"

"Shouldn't things be different between you two? You going to have a child together, you now have Julia and the other two." He told me. I shook my head.

"That's not what she's talking about." I looked over at him. He just smiled at me.

"So, she not impressed in the bedroom anymore?" He was really smiling.

"No, she thinks things are different. She's want's what it was like before." I told him.

"Why isn't it?" He asked me.

"She's having my child," The door opened and Lester and Bobby walked out.

"Why haven't we been here before, this place is sweet." Lester told me.

"Why dose that have to change anything in the bedroom." Tank said.

"What did we walk in on?" Lester asked and leaned next to me.

"Things are different in their sex life; does it have anything to do with the baby?" Bobby explained to Lester and asked me.

"Shouldn't it,"

"Hell, no man, if she wants something that your holding back just because she's going to have her baby. You're not going to hurt either of them. If you really want another voice of reason, call Lisa." I looked over at him.

"You want me to call my baby sister and ask her about having sex with Steph?" He held up his hands.

"Man, you have green lights all the way throw. Why are you still standing here with us? You have the most beautiful woman in your house waiting for you." Lester told me.

"Or you could still stand there talking to the guys and drinking beers." We all looked back and saw Steph leaning against the door giving all of us a look. "Some of the guys just left, I came looking for the rest of you. Should I think it's weird that your all out here talking about my sex like?"

"Just clearing some things up." Bobby said. She folded her arms.

"You never talk to me about your sex life, why do you get to talk about mine?" She asked them.

"Boomer," She glared at him.

"Everyone's in bed and already asleep, don't wake them up." She opened the door and everyone walked in. "Ranger," She asked me.

"Babe,"

"Ranger," She said again and was waiting.

"I was talking to Tank and the others came out. If it makes you feel better, they think I'm stupid."

"You told them?" That was not the way to go. "Ranger," I walked over to her and looked down at her.

"I'm sorry, Babe." She pulled my head down and kissed me. I pulled her against me. When I pulled back she was smiling.

"Finely,"


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up in a huge bed, Ranger did tell us we could change our room. I got out of bed and found my way throw the house to the kitchen. I got lost a few times, but finely found the kitchen. Ranger was sitting at the table reading the paper.

"I think I need a map," He smiled and laid down his paper.

"Give it a few days and you should be able to find your way around. Want eggs or cereal?" He asked me.

"Cereal," He walked me over to the caber in the corner and opened it. My mouth dropped open and I looked up at him.

"Take your pick, if you run out add it to the list on the fridge. Only if you like it." He grabbed a bowl's, spoons and milk. We walked over to the table with the box I like.

"When did you get all this food?" I asked him as I was pulling cereal into a blow.

"Ellea stocked up the house for us. She brought over Steph and my things." He picked up the paper again. I took a few bits.

"Ranger?" He looked over at me.

"Yes,"

"Dose this house have a yard?" He thought about what I asked.

"From the gate to the house all around us. Put your front and back yard together about 5 times and your hit the front gate." He told me. I thought about, my eyes grow. That's a lot of yard.

"Um what would you say if I wanted a dog?" He folded the paper up and laid it down.

"I'm not saying no, but how about we start out with something smaller and see if we can take care of it first." He told me. I thought about it and nodded.

"Did you have anything in mind?"

"How about sometime this week, we got to a pet store and see what we find. But in the living room, there is a fish tank." I wanted to jump up and run out to find it. "I'll show you after you eat," I nodded and eat as fast as I could. After I washed my blow off and put it in the dishwasher, he grabbed his cup and walked out with me.

"What are all these rooms for?"

"No clue really," I laughed at him and he opened the two doors for the living room. There at the back of the room was a huge fish tank. I walked over to it and looked at all the different fish.

"This is really cool. Who's been feeding them?"

"They were just put in yesterday. The tank was built with the house. Ellea feed them yesterday." I just nodded and looked at the fish.

"This is so cool," I saw him moved a stool over to me and lifted me on it.

"Have fun." He walked out, I just sat there and watched the fish swim around.

"This where your hiding out?" I looked over and saw Steph walking into the room.

"Ranger has fish." She smiled at me and moved behind me.

"He told me you asked about a dog, are you upset he said no?" She asked me. I shook my head no.

"He didn't say no, just wanted to see if I could take care of a pet first." She put her arms around me.

"You're a really smart boy and these are some really cool fish."

"Do you think Ranger will let me feed them later?" She kissed my head.

"I bet you he will. Have you eaten?" I nodded and smiled back at her. She kissed my check and walked out of the room.

"Wow fish," A guy said and walked in. He moved right next to me and looked at all the fish.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Lester, we meet last night." He said and held out his hand. I took it and shook it.

"Peter, are you one of the guys Steph was talking about?" I asked him. He looked over at me.

"What was she talking about?"

"You work with her and you like sports." He smiled at me and leaned against the couch that was behind me.

"Yes, I do, for both. That counts for most of the guys you'll see around here. If you want, we're going to get together and play some football today?" He asked me.

"Would you mind?" He put his arm around me.

"Now Ranger will come with us." He thought that was funny.

"He doesn't normal." He just smiled.

"Sometimes, we try not to let him always think he's the boss. This puts him in his place. Now that he's finely let us come here, we'll have private space to play. Want to ask him, or should I?" He asked me.

"Who would he say no to?" I asked him. He picked me up and put him on his back.

"I think you should ask, it could go either way with me." I laughed and let him carry me into the kitchen. There were more guys sitting around the table. Around them were the girls.

"Ranger?" He turned from the stove and looked at us.

"Can we play football outside later?" I asked him. He raised his eyebrow at me. Then I noticed he was looking at Lester. I leaned forward and looked at his face also.

"Ya Ranger can we play outside later?"

"Using Peter, sure we'll play later." I smiled and Lester laughed.

"Do you even have a ball?" Steph asked everyone.

"Garage," Ranger said. "You're not playing, don't even think about it." Ranger said without turning around. I looked over and saw she was pouting. Someone leaned over and said something to her.

"First pineapple upside down cake, now football. This is all your fault." She said, grabbed her cup and walked away. I watched her.

"Why is she upset?" I asked Lester,

"Girls can't play with the boys, we might hurt them. We've hurt Steph a few times playing. Don't worry she'll be out there cheering us on, if she wants to bare the cold." I nodded and understood now.

Ranger put food on a plate and sat it on the bar. He turned and to clean up. Steph walked back in and grabbed the plate. Before she could move, he turned and grabbed her. Leaned forward and kissed her.

"Do they always do that?" I asked him.

"Yes, but we don't have to watch." He turned us and walked us out.

This last week has been a wail wind. With Ellea's help we got the kids rooms changed into what they would like. We also got them into school. There would be a two bus stop right in front of the gate. Sara and Peter would be in grade school. Julia is in middle school.

We did talk to the kids about going to private school or public. They wanted to go to public. We got them right in and they started Monday. We also got them into concluding with other kids who's lost family members also. They have each meet some kids their own age and had a chance to talk about it.

"We did fill Rex's house with three different hamsters. Dot, Socks and Fred. They like to be held and don't bit. Both Saturday's the guys have come over and played out back with Peter. My dad came over last Sunday and this Sunday to watch the game with us.

He loved Peter and I knew he was already planning things to do with them. Peter loved him and already is calling him grandpa. Julia, we found out likes to draw and paint. We got her things for that and she was in haven. I felt bad that she was left alone most the time. But then I watched her one day and saw her smile. She wasn't who I was going to have to worry about.

Sara was very shy around the guys. She was quite again. I kept her close, until my grandma showed up with my dad today. At first, she hid behind me or Ranger. But it only took a few minutes for her to warm up. Throw this move I haven't really got to know who she was.

But she's just like me when I was younger. She wanted to build forts and be a tom boy. She just need someone to show her that it was alright to show her colors. When I noticed, I think Ranger clued in also. He smiled and put his arms around me.

"Maybe we should let some girls play with us?" He asked me.

"I've been worried, I don't think I need to anymore. You missed your family dinner." He kissed my neck.

"I was going to talk to you about having it over here next weekend." I turned in his arms and looked up at him. "Just my parent's babe,"

"Alright," He kissed me. After he talked to the guys he finely gave me the passion I was looking for. Now he's found a way to give me both, it took me a few minutes to understand why he was holding back. Now that I understand, I don't care as long as he's mine.

"I'll call them," He kissed me again and pulled back. I sat down with Sara and my grandma.

When they left, the guys left with them. Ranger carried Peter and Sara to bed. I checked in on Julia and saw she was already crashed out. I covered her and kissed her head.

"Come on babe," Ranger picked me up and carried me off to bed.

"I loved your sheets," I told him as I watched him undress.

"If I didn't know better I would think you were only with me for them." He said as he wrapped his arms around me. "How would you feel if we got Peter a dog for Christmas?"

"Good idea, mouths away." I said and yawed.

"Two months away, Halloween is two days after your doctor appointment." I turned and looked up at him.

"I don't even have a costume."

"I know you'll find something. You're also growing. Just a little, but you can notice that you're a little bigger." He told me and was cupping my stomach.

"A week an half to find something to wear. Wait is Rangerman still going to the Police ball?"

"Yes, it's Friday night the day before Halloween. I'm sure we can find someone to watch the kids. So really you need to find two outfits. And you have two weeks. We'll also need to take the kids out to find them something to wear." I covered his hand.

"Should we tell people, I'm can't really hide it anymore?"

"That's up to you babe, but I think we should tell the kids first." I nodded and started falling asleep.

"We'll take them to the doctors with us. Sleep now, love you."

"I love you also Babe."

I went for my run, it was nice to run around these streets. When I got back to the house I smelled coffee. Steph was standing in the kitchen looking at the stove.

"Babe?"

"I suck at cooking."

"Then don't and let them eat cereal. Are they up?" I asked and saw what time it was. She covered her mouth and nodded.

"Julia was up by six. I just woke Sara and Peter up. Who's going to be here when they get off school?" She asked me.

"If neither of us are done working on of the guys will be here. When they get use to the house and everything, I don't think they'll be too upset to have a few hours alone. Julie is old enough to watch them." She nodded again.

"Sara and Peter will get home almost an hour before she does?"

"Then the guys will be here for that amount of time. We'll deal with that later. For today, that's the plan." She nodded and poured herself a cup of tea. Then walked over to me, kissed me and walked out. I turned and followed behind her. She knocked on Julia's door.

"Almost done, cereal?" She asked.

"Yes," Steph said and moved on to Peter's room. She knocked and he opened his door.

"Cereal I heard," She kissed his head as he past. He was dressed and ready to go already. She moved on to Sara's door. It was at right in front of the stairs.

"Sara?" Steph asked when no one responded. She opened the door and walked in. Sara was in the middle of her room fighting with her shoes. Steph went over to her and helped. I smiled and moved onto our room. I showered and got dressed. As I was opened the door she did the same. I kissed Steph and I walked out. Sara was walking out of her room.

"You look pretty sweetie." I said and picked her up. She smiled at me.

"Steph helped. Do you like my shoes?" She asked me. I lifted her higher and saw she was wearing bright yellow shoes.

"They are really pretty, who would have known you like bright colors." She leaned forward and kissed my check. When we walked into the kitchen I sat her on her feet and fixed her dress. She was wearing a pair of tights under it, I smiled and she grabbed her box of cereal and ran back over to the table. I fixed myself a cup of coffee and watched them eat.

"Are you going to eat anything Ranger?" Peter asked me.

"Coffee for this morning. Do you want me to wait with you to wait for the bus?" I asked them.

"When will it be here?" They all asked at the same time.

"Somewhere around 7:30. It's getting cold out and I was more thinking about having you wait in the SVU for it." They looked at me. "Try it for today and tomorrow when we know the time, we don't have to do that." They all nodded. At 7:20 I got them all in the SUV and drove to the gate. We had to wait a few minutes for Julia's bus. She hopped right out and got in it. Then it was another 10 minutes for Peter and Sara's bus. When I saw, it I got out and helped Sara out. Peter hopped out. They waved and got on the bus. I leaned against the SUV and watched it drive away.

In that short time, they have become my family. I got back in the SUV and drove back to the house. I pulled into the garage and there was Steph waiting for me. She was in a suit and smiling.

"Babe?" I asked her when she got in. Do you like my shoes Ranger?" She asked me. I pulled her to me and kissed her.

"You just couldn't want to get out of the Rangerman uniform."

"You're in a suit?" I kissed her again and pulled out.

"We have a few clients to meet today. But I also have a uniform in your bathroom for me." She took my hand and put it on her stomach. I drove us to Rangerman and parked. We headed up stairs and were greeted by everyone. She went into her office and I went into mine.


	14. Chapter 14

The day flow, Bobby and Lester called at 2 and told me they were going to be with the kids. This last week has been great and coming back to work has been great. The core team loved the kids as much as we did. I know they probable fought over who got to do the honors today.

When I was getting dressed today I turned sideways in the morrow and saw what Ranger was talking about. I was really starting to look pregnant now. Lisa said I would pop right out. But I was just growing slowly. I didn't know where most the clothes came from. But I had a whole section of dress clothes. I put on a pant suit today and noticed that the pants and shirt really made the little baby bump stick out. But when I put on the vest, it was gone.

At four I was done and kissed Ranger and told him I was heading home. He kissed me and asked me to pick up dinner. I know he would be working late tonight. I got in my car and drove home. Bobby and Lester kissed me and headed out.

"Who wants to go look for something for Halloween?" I asked the kids. They all jumped up. We got in the car and drove to the mall. Sara held my hand.

"Steph, can we get some more legging's?" She asked me when we past a kid store and saw a whole table of them. I winked at her and walked in. Peter made a sound and sat on a bench with Julia. We got about 10 different pairs. She was so happy and was bouncing. Peter got a new hoddie, he didn't like coats I found out. Last was Julia, we walked throw most of the mall and I was waiting for her. Then I noticed she stopped at the front of one store. I gave her some money and let her got buy what she saw. She walked out with a fur lined jacket.

"What will dad think?"

"That he shouldn't let us go shopping alone. But he'll like the jacket." She showed me the inner lining. It looked like it was painted on. Then we walked into the Halloween store. Much to my surprise Sara picked a bumble bee outfit. Peter was going as a ninja. Julia picked a pretty devil outfit. To match Sara I grabbed a sexy lady bug outfit. I paid and walked out.

"Steph?" Joe said, he was just frozen to his place right next to the door we just walked out.

"Hey Joe, who's Kris?"

"How do you know Kris?"

"My grandmother knows everything and if she doesn't my mom dose." He was just looking at me. I was holding a sleeping Sara, Peter and Julia were carrying our bags.

"Who are these?" He asked and sound like he was mad.

"Hers, who are you?" Julia said and wasn't all that happy with him.

"Joe this is Julia and Peter, and this is Sara." He just looked them over.

"Really you and kids. You can't even remember to feed Rex. Where did you pick them up?" I just glared at him.

"Babe?" I looked back and saw Ranger move behind me. He lifted Sara from me and laid her on his shoulder. "Would any of those bags be dinner?" He asked me and gave me a kiss.

"I know I was forgetting something." He smiled at me.

"Joe," Ranger nodded to him and turned us.

"You have to be joking me. You really want me to believe your one big happy family?" Joe said to us. Out of nowhere Hector moved over to us and took Sara. Ranger turned around and walked over to Joe. We stood there and watched them. Ranger got in Joes face and was saying something to him.

[You shouldn't carry her.] Hector told me and kissed my head.

"She's light as a feather, if you were so worried why didn't you come take her from me?"

[I just showed up. Someone called and told me the cop was here. She's pretty, just like you Angle.] Hector said to me.

"Steph I'm getting hungry," Peter said. I guess Ranger heard, because he pulled back and turned towards us. He walked over, picked up Peter and started walking away.

"Can't believe you would really steal for a thug cupcake." Joe called after me. I spun on my heal and walked right over to him. Before he could tell what, I was going to do I sucker punched him.

"Call him that again and I won't be so nice. Say anything bad about my family, Joe and I'll make you wish you didn't. I've put up with your bullshit for long enough. You're just pissed off that you couldn't get me to do anything you wanted. It's too bad that Ranger didn't want me to change and I just did on my own. I did it for my family." I gave him a worrying look, spun on my hell again and walked over to my family.

"Wow that was really cool mom, Steph." Peter said. His eyes were big and he thought I would be mad. Everyone just stopped. I looked at him. Then kissed him.

"Either one is just fine." He smiled,

"Can we eat now?" He asked. I put my arm around Julia and we walked to the food court. Everyone ordered something different. Even Sara woke up and got something also. She was surprised to see Hector holding her. Then put her arms around his neck and kissed his check. We sat down and eat.

"Can you teach me how to punch like that?" Peter asked me.

"Fighting is not the answer." Ranger told him.

"I know, but that was really cool. Did you see her, it was like it came out of nowhere? Bam she hit him and he went down. I bet you or none of the guys would have went down like that." The table was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lester asked and moved to sit down with us with Bobby.

"Mom punched some guy, Peter wants to learn how." Julia said to them. Lester reached out for one of Sara's fries and she smacked his hand away. Hector moved her and her food to his other said. She looked over at Lester and just smiled.

"Talk to Cal, he was a boxer in the Navy." Lester said and shared my fries with me.

"That's cool." Peter's mind was just blow with that.

"Who was the guy?" Bobby asked.

"Joe wanted to put his two cents in," I said and shrugged.

"Probable because the teacher broke up with him when she caught him pants down," Lester looked up and around the table. "Tripping out of his pants."

"How do you trip on your pants; doesn't he know what a belt is?" Sara asked.

"Like this one, it sure is cute." Bobby said to her.

"He can't have it."

"You don't have to give him your belt sweetie, if he hasn't learned his lesson by now. He never will. What are you guys doing here anyways?" Ranger asked them.

"We say Hector leave. Noticed where you were and thought we should join. Why are we at the mall anyways?"

"Halloween shopping, but I got legging's also. Are you dressing up for Halloween?" Sara asked them.

"Rangerman goes to the Police ball ever year. We dress up for that, this year new that we have someone's kids to take, we're going trick or treating." Ranger just shook his head.

"Really, you're going to go with us, what are you going to be?" Peter asked.

"Mad Sciences." Bobby told them.

"Dracula." Lester said. Each kid told them what they were going to be and they talked about Halloween. I leaned against Ranger and he rubbed my hand.

"Did you pick something out Babe?" He asked me. I nodded at him.

"You'll have to wait and see, I still want to find something to wear to the ball." He kissed my head.

"I might have something in mind already. I'll show you tomorrow." I kissed him and listened to everyone have a good time.

"Hey where's Tank?" I asked the guys as we were heading to the car. Lester was giving Peter a piggy back ride.

"He had a date, don't as us little girl we can't get anything out of him either." Bobby said. I looked up at Ranger and he just shrugged he didn't know what was going on either. I was going to have to get it out of him.

And that what I did the next day. I pinned him in his office and made him tell me. When he was done with his story I just sat there with my mouth hanging open.

"You're so going to have to tell Ranger." He just dropped his head on the desk. "Then invite her to the ball." I patted him on the shoulder and walked out. Ranger also showed me what he had in mind for Halloween. Tonight, he finely laid the box on the bed.

"Ellea's been keeping it for me. Your dad's down stairs with the kids and will stay and watch them tonight." Ranger told me. I kissed him on the check and opened the box.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked him.

"It is a masquerade this year." He kissed me and walked out. I opened the box and saw a wonder woman custom in the box. He never told me what he was going as. But I just smiled. I think I might have an idea. For the next two hours, I got ready. There in the bottom of the box was a mask. Normal there isn't one for the custom, but it fit no matter. I opened the door and walked out. Sara was walking out of her room.

"Wow your pretty." I did a spin for her and she laughed. I took her hand and walked down the stairs.

"Wow," Everyone said when we walked into the family room.

"Thanks," Then everyone started laughing. I turned around and saw Ranger standing in the doorway. I just smiled at him. He was 100% batman. Julia pulled out a caramel and took our pictures. We kissed everyone and told them goodnight.

"Well Batman, it looks like you're going to be a very lucky man tonight."

"I'm always a lucky man, Wonder woman." He kissed me and put me opened my door. He was driving my favor car.

"How did you know I would still fight into this?" I asked him. My stomach was really showing now.

"Ellea, she made sure you would have a good night." He put his hand on my stomach as he drove.

"Do the guys know?" He looked over at me. No, they didn't, I just smiled and couldn't wait. We parked along with the Rangerman SUV's and Tanks hummer. He opened the door and got out. The guys went wild. He walked around the car and helped me out. Everyone got louder when they heard me.

"Lisa, how are you?" I asked her when I saw how. She was dressed to match Tank. He was a knight and she was his lady.

"Good," She kissed my check. We walked to the front door as a group. The night was great. Everyone danced and had a great time. When it was almost 2 I was dead on my feet. Ranger put his arms around me and kissed my neck.

"Is my wonder woman ready to go home?" He asked me.

"Show the way batman." He took my hand and we walked out. "Are you really alright with Tank and Lisa?" He sat me on the trunk and moved between my legs.

"Can't say much about it. If I don't want one my best friend's dating her, she'll never find someone. Seeing them tonight, I can see they really care about each other." He said and kissed me.

"Let's get home," I said and pulled away. His eyes were dark and he helped me up. I fell asleep on the way home.

These last few weeks have been great. The kids were happy when we told them about the baby. Sara was worried at first, then when she meets Lisa and saw the baby she couldn't wait. We found out that it was a boy.

Today I had another doctor's appointment and everyone want to come see the baby. He started kicking this last mouth and Ranger couldn't get enough of felling him move. I just got done with a client's meeting and started on my paperwork.

I normal would get out of the office around four. Ranger would head out at five. There's been a few times where he's been called out. The kids didn't even care. But Monday night when we were getting ready for dinner, Ranger got a call and rushed out. Sara ran after him with his belt and gun.

"Dad you forgot this." She said. He picked her up and kissed her. The turned her and let her run back into the house. I just kissed him and let him leave. That next day he got a safe put in the garage and no one came in the house with guns now. She was the last one to call us that. But I could see it did something for Ranger. He loved these kids even more than I did.

Yesterday morning he got a call and was asked to head up to one of the other offices to help out with a tank down. He sat down with everyone and asked what we all thought. They were sad, but all told him to go. There was kisses and hugs as they got on the bus.

My screen save turned on and it was pictures of all of us. My dad and Grandma were in some and the guys were in a lot. My phone started ringing. I looked at the desk and saw it was my cell phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it.

"White girl I need your help." Luna said.

"What's wrong?" I said as I stood up and grabbed my jacket.

"I'm was picking up one of my normal skips and she's OD'ing. The thing is I don't do kids and she has kids." I asked her for the address and she told me the ambience has been called. I grabbed Bobby and Lester as I running out. I didn't say more than the address. Lester pulled in front of the house and they ran after me as I ran inside. Two small kids were screening and Luna was frisking out, but helping the woman. Lester and I grabbed the kids, Bobby got to work.

"Ranger's going to kill us if you get hurt." Lester said.

"Mommy," The little boy yelled and was trying to get away. The little girl was just crying and holding on to me. The EMT's ran into the house and put the woman on a stretcher. Bobby was talking to them. Luna just sat down. Lester and I followed the woman out. Bobby got Luan up and walked out with us. They got into the SUV and we got into the ambience. The little boy was just crying his eyes out. The girl just cried along with her brother.

I could tell from there face that she didn't make it. But they moved her into a room anyways. Lester sat down with the boy and Bobby and Luna sat outside.

"Honey" I said and brushed the hair out of the boy's face. He looked over to me. "I'm Steph and this is my friend Lester."

"I'm Max and my sissy Lily. Is my mommy going to wake up?" He asked. I shook my head slowly and he started crying harder again. We just sat there. Lily fell asleep finely and Max wasn't far behind her.

"What's going to happen to them Lester?"

"I don't know Beautiful, they might be given to family."

"Sally didn't have any family. She didn't even know who their papa's where." We nodded and I rubbed the little girls back.

"Steph this is Miss Aleve White, she's from child services." Bobby said and showed in a beautiful young lady. Something about her looked finagler.

"You know my sister Marci. I'm two years behind her." She told me. I held out my hand. She came over and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you. This is Luna, Bobby and Lester." She nodded to all of them. "And Max and Lily, you're here to take them aren't you." She sat down and was worried now. "What's wrong?"

"Yes, I am, but after hearing they don't have family I'm worried. It's not common for families to stay together in child care. I don't have room for them right now. Cut back and all that." She rubbed her face. I looked closer and saw she was tired and over worked.

"Let me keep them?" I asked her. Her eyes grow and she looked over at me like I was out of my mind.

"What,"

"They should stay together. Even though Luna doesn't think they have family, still look. But until then let me keep them. I don't have a back ground in state care, but I know if you talk to the major, he'll let me." They all just looked at me.

"You want to keep them?" She just asked me.

"Yes," I nodded to her. "I have room and the means to take care of them. From the sounds of it, you don't really have the room to keep them together. Let me keep them."

"Normal you would need a license to take in children, why do you think the major will help you?" She asked. They guys just smiled.

"He's an old family friend. Plays poker with my father every Wednesday and over at my house every Saturday. He knows I can take care of them and will push the papers around for me to do this. It will allow you to take in other kids that need your help. Please." I told her.

"I'll have to make some calls." She got up and walked out.

"Steph?" Bobby said.

"I know she might not be the same, but you weren't there when they dropped of Peter and Sara." I told them. We all sat there and waited. Max finely fell asleep. Luna was still upset over all of this. Finely Aleve walked back in. She looked so surprised.

"The major specks very highly of you, he also informed me if I didn't do this I was crazy. I'm still going to look for their family. But for now, I'll allow them to go home with you. Here's my card and I will need to expect their living arrangements by the end of the week." I nodded and handed her my card also.

"Thank you." I told her.

"No thank you, I really don't have room for them. I have child sets for you to use until you get your own."

"I'll take them." Bobby said and walked out with her.

"Beautiful?" I looked over at Lester.

"I know, I'll talk with Ranger later." He nodded and the little boy woke up. I switched and held him to me. "I'm really sorry for your mommy, but you're going to go home with me." He just nodded.

"Do you want to say goodbye before we leave?" I asked him. He nodded again. I got up and walked over to the bed. He sat down, leaned forward and kissed his mommy. Then turned and held onto me.

We walked away as he was crying. There outside waiting for us was Tank and Bobby. Tank saw us and looked worried.

"Little girl?" He kissed my head. Moved back and opened the back door. I put Max in his seat and locked him in. Then watched Lester do the same to Lily. I brushed the hair out of his face and kissed his head. I shut the door softly and leaned against Tank.

"Did I do the right thing?" I asked him.

"Ranger told me about Sara and Peter. He'll understand." Tank walked around and helped me in. Bobby and Lester took Luna home. I sat there and watched Max fall back to sleep. We got to the house and laid both of them down in the family room. I grabbed my cell phone and called Ranger.

"Babe,"

"I made a huge diction without you today, I'm hoping it wasn't wrong and you won't be mad at me." I told him and wiped my eyes. He was quiet.

"All right what was it?" He asked me. I sat there and told him everything. By the end, I was crying. He gave me a few minutes to calm down.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked him.

"Never stop surprising me. I love you Babe." He told me.

"This isn't a for sure things, Aleve is going to look for family members to take them. But they will be here until them." I told him.

"Get Ellea to help you with everything you need. Talk to the kids and I'll be home this weekend. I'm not mad at you babe. You have a huge heart and that's one of the things I love about you. I'm sure I'll love them just as much as you do." He told me.

"You're really alright with this?"

"Babe that is your house also. You put up with my hours and job. You allowed my daughter and her sister and brothers into our life. These two kids need you, I'm not going to say no to that. Call Lisa and tell her we'll be in next week. Can you face the kids alone?" He asked me.

"Yes, I love you."

"I love you also Babe, call Ellea." He said and hung up. I put the phone away and saw Tank smiling. He helped me up and walked me into the family room. There standing in the front of the couch was Ellea. You could see tears in her eyes.

"I was just about to call you." She waved it away.

"I'll be back shortly," She hugged me, kissed my check and walked out. Tank sat down and held me.

"He wasn't mad." I told him.

"How could he be little girl. Just wait till he gets home and falls in love with them also. There lucky to have you there." I leaned my head against his chest. "I already talked to Lisa and she understands." I nodded and watched the two little kids sleep. I could hear the guys, but they didn't come down.

"Mommy?" Sara called out as she headed down the stairs. She saw us and looked worried. I moved off Tanks lap and pulled her to me. She saw the two little kids and she looked up at me.

"Who are they?" Peter asked. He snuck down with her.

"This is Max and Lily, there mommy died today and they really needed a place to stay. I understand if you get upset." I told them.

"Do I have to share my room?" Peter asked. He was leaning against the couch and was looking at me.

"No honey you don't."

"Then it's ok, they are really lucky to have you and dad to take care of them. If was hard for me to lose my parents and I was old enough to understand. It must be really hard for them." He said to me. I kissed his head. Then looked down at Sara.

"Will you still have time for me?" I smiled at her and nodded.

"You'll always be my bumblebee." She turned and hugged me.

"Peter's right, they are lucky. You're the bestest mommy ever. Daddy might work a lot, but he's the bestest also." I kissed her head.

"Can we go see what the guys are up to?" Peter asked.

"Yes, don't forget your homework also." They nodded and ran out. Tank put his arm around me.

"They are right, these two are really lucky to have you. Come on, let's go see what there up to." He grabbed both of them and we headed up the stairs. The room on either side of the hall right next to ours were busy with guys. One was a little girls room and Ellea was busy putting things away. The guys were putting together a bed and changing table. I looked across the hall and saw they were putting together a bed, dresser and toy box. There were bags pushed against the wall. Peter was helping the guys and Sara was helping Ellea.

"I don't know how you do it every time. But everything looks perfect." I told her. She smiled at me.

"I also picked up some things for the little one. Carlos also called to make sure you didn't over do. Bring them into work tomorrow and I'll watch them during the day." She told me.

"Are you sure?" She nodded and took the little girl. She handed her to me and pointed to the crib that was done and made up in picks and dragon fly I laid her down and covered her with a soft pink blanket. Sara was watching me. She pointed to the dragon fly above and I turned them on.

"She's going to like them." I nodded and kissed her. That's when Max decide to wake up. He was scared of everyone around him. Then he saw me. I took him from Tank and showed him his sissy. He touched everything and couldn't believe it.

"Do I have to share the bed with her still?" I shook my head and walked a crossed the hall to his room. His mouth dropped open.

"Hi Max I'm Peter. Do you like your room?"

"Mine?" Max asked. Peter's face just light up.

"It's all yours, we're almost done with everything. Do you want to help?" Max just nodded. I put him on his feet and kissed Peter.

"I don't know a better big brother in the whole world." He took Max hand and sat down by Lester. They watched and helped him put the toy box together. I walked back out and headed down the stairs. Julia would be home soon. I grabbed my coat and went outside to wait for her. She was already walking down the driveway.

"Mom what are you doing out here. Is dad hurt?" She asked me.

"No baby, your dad is just fine and should be home this weekend. But something else happened." She sat down next to me and looked at me. I put my arm around her.

"What?"

"Today a friend called me and told me something happened to someone she knew. Because she knew I was so good with kids she called me. I got Les and Bobby to come with me and help me. We showed up and saw the lady was dying. She took a lot of drugs and was very hurt. She died and left her two very young kids by them self's. Remember when your sister and brother were taken from you, well the same thing would have happened here. But the lady that came kind of knew me. She also didn't have room for these kids. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you first, but I asked if I could take them home with me. She let me." I told her.

"Mom you don't have to ask me about things like this. There lucky you were there. How small are they?" She asked me.

"Max and Lily are both very young. But I don't know yet how young. Would you like to meet them?" I asked her. She nodded and we walked inside. She put her bag in the kitchen and walked upstairs with me. We walked into Max room first.

"Max this is my big sister Julia, Julia this is Max." Peter said. Julia knelled down and smiled at him.

"I can see you already have a big brother watching out for you." She told him.

"I always wanted a brother, but I got a sister." Max said.

"Now you do," Max just smiled.

"Max told me he was four." Peter said.

"I'm this old and my sissy is this old." He held up a finger. Julia got up and looked around. Max took her hand and pulled her out of his room and into hers. Sara was standing in front of the crib looking at the baby. "That's my sissy." Max said and ran back out to play with Peter.

"She's so cute." Julia said. Sara nodded.

"Will our brother be this cute?" Sara asked.

"Yes, but I'm sure your dad won't let him have a pink room." They both laughed. Stopped at once when they saw Lily wake up. I just smiled at them and picked her up. She was crying. We walked down stairs and Ellea already have a bottle ready for me. I gave it to her and she stopped crying at once.

"I stuck direction on the can." She said and pointed to it. Dinner is in the stove warming up for you. If you need anything call me. She hugged and kissed us then headed out.

"Can I hold her?" Sara asked. I nodded and waited for her to sit down. Softly I laid Lily in her arms. "Can we keep her?"

"We'll see, we need to see if she has family first." Both girls nodded and watched Lily eat. The timer went off and I pulled out dinner. Tank came in and helped me with everything. I put together a few more thing and called dinner. Four guys came in along with Peter and Max. Dates helped Max in a chair with a booster sit.

I pushed a high chair over to the table and put Lily in it. She was happy and went back to her bottle. Everyone sat down to eat. Max just looked at the food like it was something he's never seen. I helped him by putting a little of everything on his plate.

Everyone talked and eat.

"Can we watch the hockey game?" Peter asked.

"Clean up and you can." I told him. He waited for Max and with one of the guys help they both cleaned off their plates and went down to the family room to watch the game.

"We're heading out, thanks for dinner." Pickson told me. I nodded and both headed out. I picked Lily up and walked down stairs with the girls. Sara sat on Tank's lap and watched the game with him. Julia was on the corner doing her homework. I sat down next to her.

"Do you need help?" I asked her.

"No, I've just been putting it off. She sure is a cutie," Julia said and pointed her pen to Lily. I nodded and leaned against Bobby. He put his arm around me. Lester was talking to the boys about the game. I pushed bedtime for the end of the game.

We all got up and got everyone to bed, Tank helped Sara. For some reason the scarier they are the more she loves them. I made a bottle for Lily and laid her in her new crib. She just looked up at her dragonfly's. I turned on the little night light and closed the door behind me.

"Ready for bed?" I asked Max and helped him into his new bed. He nodded and got under the covers. I kissed his head and tucked him in. "My room is right next to yours. The door will be open and if you need anything, just come get me." He nodded and let me kiss him. I turned on the night light and cracked his door behind me.

"There all asleep already." I took a few steps back and saw all three of my guys smiling at me.

"When did you become so good with kids?" I asked them.

"Beautiful I come from a large family and they'll come with me. We've always been good with kids, just not ready for them." Lester told me.

"Do I do a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked them as I walked down the stairs. I sat down and they sat around me.

"We talked to Luna a little bit, those kids wouldn't know what a real life was like. You're going to give them that, and I'm going to get a date for thanksgiving." Bobby told me.

"What?"

"I asked Aleve out,"

"When's thanksgiving?"

"This coming Thursday, you were the one who invited us?" He told me. I just shook my head.

"Time sure is flying. If felt like Halloween was just last week."

"Sorry little girl that was a few weeks ago, you don't have to have this thanksgiving dinner." I just smiled at him.

"You just think I'll ruin dinner and you don't want to finely come out in the open about your relationship with Lisa. Sorry but I'm still holding it. Ellea and I will do most of the cooking and I'll send out a list of what everyone should bring. Are you guys staying?"

"Your beds are better than ours." Les told me.

"Ellea told me she would watch Max and Lily; do you think she's really doesn't mind or do you think Ranger told her to?"

"Ellea could never have kid's boomer, what she does for you and Ranger. Think of it like a mother or grandmother."

"But she takes care of all you guys, I don't want her to over work."

"If she gets over worked, she'll tell you. Ranger might run the building, but Ellea treats Ranger like a son. She treats all of us like her sons. He asked her if she would be willing, or she asked him if she could. Those two little kids will be spoiled just like the rest. Everyone loves them little girl." I smiled at them.

"How's Dates and Pickson coming along?" I asked them.

"They showed up on their day off to help out. Some of the guys still aren't sure of them, it will take time." Tank said to me.

"Alright, I'm heading to bed. Lock up and turn off the lights behind you." I hugged each of them and got ready for bed. I lay down and started to fall asleep. Then someone tugged on my hand.

"Lady?" I opened my eyes and saw Max. He looked worried. I just smiled at him, grabbed his hands and pulled him on the bed.

"Are you going to snuggle with me?" I asked him.

"You let me sleep with you?" He asked.

"Sure will, are you warm?" He nodded and rolled towards me. I put my arm around him and pulled me to him. I laid there and watched him fall asleep. I drifted off to sleep after I was sure. I got up twice to go to the bathroom and he joined me. For being four and having his child hood, he was very well potty trained.

At six when I woke up, I covered him up and got out of bed. I headed down the stairs and saw the down stairs light on. The guys were working out in the gym. I started coffee and made a bottle for Lily. When I got back upstairs, I check under the doors and saw all three kids were up.

I picked Lily up and laid her down on the changing table. I changed her and looked throw the closet for something to put her in. I found cute dress and tights for her. She woke up as I was walking back. I gave her the new bottle and started changing her. She was upset at first, then started playing with her dress.

"You sure are a cutie." She sat up and let me do her hair. She saw the flower I put in there and felt it. But she didn't take it out. I put on a pair of shoes and picked her up.

"Tank help?" I heard Sara calling out as she ran into the kitchen. I stayed in the doorway and watched her. He was knelling down in front of her.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't get my legging's on." She held them out of him. Today she was in a shirt and skirt. But she loved legions. He just looked at her.

"Let's go get mommy to help you." She shook her head no and shook them for him.

"She's busy, please." He picked her up and sat her on the counter.

"Alright honey, how do they work?" She just smiled at him.

"Tag in the back and lines go on the toes. I'm not big enough to pull and stand." She told him. Then she showed him what to do. When he got them to her knees, he stood her up and pulled them the rest of the way up. He fixed her skirt and made sure the lines were on her toes. Helped her sit back down and put on her shoes.

"We're going to need to get you some new ones. Your big enough to pull and stand, but your growing out of these ones." I told her. Her eyes went huge when she saw Lily.

"Mommy she's pretty." I stood her on the counter and showed her off.

"That's all her, now make sure the guys watch her." She nodded and helped me put her in her high chair. I kissed her head and walked out. Max was still asleep. I took a fast shower and throw some stuff in my hair. I watched Max as I got dressed.

"Honey, it's time to get up." I said and brushed his hair out of his face. He rolled towards me and slowly he woke up and opened his eyes.

"Lady, your still here?"

"I'm always going to be here, let's get you dressed and have breakfast." He just nodded and let me help him out of the bed. I sat on his bed and let him pick out what he wanted to wear. He was good at dressing himself. But when it came to his shoes, he finely asked for my help. We got up and he took my hand.

He walked slowly all the way down the stairs. Lester helped him into his booster chair and helped him pick what cereal he wanted. He was smiling as he eats. He was worried there wouldn't be any food.

"We'll see you in the office little girl." The guys hugged me and headed out. I made myself a cup of tea and watched everyone eat.

"Everyone ready?" I asked them when they were done eating. They nodded and let me grab Lily. In the mud room, everyone got on their coats and grabbed their bags. In the garage, there was a SUV waiting for us. It was turned on and warm. I opened the back door and saw they put down on of the sets so the kids could get into the back seat. I put Lily in her seat and Julia helped Max into his. Then got in the front seat. I got in also and pulled out of the driveway.

"You don't have to wait." Julia said when I stopped in front of the gate.

"Honey it's 17 outside. I'll wait." They all laughed at me. When Julia's bus stopped, she hopped out and waved as she ran to her bus. When I saw Peter and Sara's bus I got out and opened the back door. They hopped out and ran to their bus also.

"These are different seats." Max said when I got back in.

"Ellea likes to get things we like. The seat you were in yesterday wasn't for a big boy. Do you like this one more?" He nodded and played with a toy he found. I drove to Rangerman. When I parked, I let both of them out, carried Lily and held Max's hand.

"What's this?"

"This is where I work. Ellea is going to watch you. But if you ever want me, just ask and she'll bring you to me." He nodded and waited in the elevate with me. It stopped on five and we walked out.

"There are a lot of guys here." He said looking around.

"Yep, don't think you need to remember everyone." He just nodded again. We got into my office and he ran into the bathroom. I was going to have to remember to ask before we leave. I sat behind my desk and logged in. Lily was just happy to sit on my lap.

"She is a cutie." I looked up and saw Ellea standing in my doorway.

"My sister's kids pull everything out of their hair. She just touched it and was fine with it. You did a great job picking out the clothes." Ellea smiled.

"You let me spoil then, I will." I stood Lily on the desk and showed her off. Ellea came over and smiled. "I think she likes to be pretty. You'll have your hands full with this one." We heard the toilet flush and the door opened.

"Hi lady." Max said.

"Morning Max, would you like to come play with me?" He looked around the office then nodded. She picked up Lily, took Max's hand and walked out. I just smiled and my computer beeped.

'You make a wonderful mother.' Ranger told me. He was IM'ing me. I smiled and pulled my key board to me.

'Thank you, you also are a wonderful father. What brought this up?' I asked back to him.

'Hector sent me some pictures of Max and Lily. How did the kids take it?' He asked me. I just smiled. It was just like Hector to make sure Ranger know what was going on.

'Peter was worried he would have to share his room and Sara was worried we wouldn't' have time for her. Both girls are in love with Lily and Peter finely has a brother. What do you think?' I asked him.

'Lily is a beautiful baby. Max isn't so sure of everything. I'm sorry I'm not there. I should be home Sunday.' He told me.

"We'll be fine till your home. Did you know thanksgiving is next week?' I asked him.

'Do you still want host it?' He asked me.

'Yes, I just forgot that it was coming up on us. I love you, but our meeting is about to start.'

'I love you also babe,' He signed out. I got up and took off my jacket. I was seven mouths and looked five. Lisa still told me over and over I was more than healthy and so was the baby. I walked in and sat next to Tank. The meeting went by like normal. I filled them in on what was coming up and excused them. When it was just the core team both Tank and I went throw everything a little deeper.

"I'll be sending out a list of what to bring on thanks giving. I also need to know how many everyone is brought." I told everyone.

"Your house is huge Steph, but do you have room for all of us and both your family's?" Vince asked me.

"It's all my family or none. But yes, everyone will have a place to sit." They nodded, grabbed their things and walked out.

"How much are you and Ellea really cooking?" Tank asked me.

"Most of it." I winked at him and headed to my office. I had back to back client meetings. In seven months, I've went from a crappy bounty hunter to a great business woman. At four I cleaned up and said goodbye to the guys. When I got off on six I knocked on the door. I heard running feet and the door opened. Logan was standing there holding Max.

"Lady." Max said.

"Ready to go home." I asked. He smiled at me.

"Can I come back? I had fun."

"You can come back every weekday if they want you to." I told him. Max laughed and nodded to me. Logan kissed my check and moved out of my way to walk in. Lily was asleep in a play pen.

"They will always be welcome. We might not let them go." Logan told me. I kissed his check back. Ellea handed Lily over to me and kissed me also. I thanked them and waved as I walked away holding Max's hand. He got in his seat and buckled himself up. I laid Lily down and fixed her dress.

By the time, I got home he was asleep also. Dates and Pickson were waiting and picked both of them up for me. We walked inside. They put them in the play pen in the family room. Nodded and headed out. I kissed each of them and went back upstairs to fix dinner.

I was done learning Spanish from Victor. Now I was learning how to cook. If I followed the cook book to the t, I could pull off half of what I cooked. If I got lost I would call Ellea and she helped me. I took off my jacket and shoes and started cooking.

"Lady that smells good." I looked over and saw Max standing in the doorway. He wasn't so sure of being up here.

"Would you like to be my teaser?" I asked him. He ran over and climbed up on a stool. I made sure it wasn't hot and let him tease everything that was done.

"You know you can call me Steph?" He nodded and looked down.

"Everyone calls you mommy."

"Not everyone and if you wanted to call me mommy I wouldn't care at all. Do you want to know something?" He nodded at me. "Julia, Peter and Sara aren't my real kids. Their parents never woke up like your mommy. But Julia's daddy is my boyfriend and we went down to be with her when that happened. Her brother and sister came home with us also. It took them some time but they started calling me mommy. I don't want to take the place as your mommy, I just want you to be happy."

"Can my sissy be happy also?"

"Of course, you don't need to be scared to ask for anything." He smiled finely. He tired a few more things. "Do you want to go tell everyone it's time for dinner?" He nodded, got down and ran out. I could hear him yelling all the way down the stairs. I moved everything to the table and started to make the table when everyone walked in. Julia put Lily in her chair. I grabbed a bottle of baby food and sat down. She was happy to eat it.

"When's dad going to be home?" Julia asked me.

"He said he should be here Sunday. What's school like for you guys next week?"

"Thursday and Friday I have off." Julia told me.

"Same." Both Peter and Sara told me. I nodded and know I could get both those days off.

"Are we doing something for Thanksgiving?" Sara wanted to know.

"A big family dinner." They all smiled and loved that idea. After everyone eat, they helped clean up and headed back down stairs to watch a movie. Lily fell asleep half way throw. I got her ready for bed and laid her down. When I got back down Max was falling asleep also. I took his hand and walked him up the stairs. We had a bath and got him into bed.

"Tomorrow we'll get some bath toys and some books to read at bedtime." He smiled and got into bed.

"If I can't sleep can I come in with you again?" He asked me.

"Yes, but try and sleep in your big boy bed first. But I'll move a step stool next to the bed if you can't." He kissed me back when I kissed him. I tucked him in and walked into my room I put the stool next to the bed and changed into pj's.

When I got back down stairs. Peter was feeding the fish and hamsters.

"Do you think dad has noticed?" Peter asked me, when he saw me.

"Yes, you take really good care of the pets. Let's give him a little more time if he might not have noticed, then will talk to him again." He smiled and nodded at me. He sat down to watch the fish.

"Could I ask for one for Christmas?" He asked.

"That's a great idea. If Ranger forgets maybe Santa will remember." I told him. He smiled over at me.

"Mom I don't believe in Santa, but Sara dose and we all pretend for her. Are you going to be Santa in this story?" He asked me.

"Yes, but I'm not promising anything."

"I understand, are Max and Lily going to get to stay like we are." He asked me.

"I would really like them to. But we won't know for a while. We're going shopping tomorrow; do you want to come or have the guys come over?" I asked him.

"What are we shopping for?"

"Food for thanksgiving and going to the mall. Everyone needs to get a few things and I want to be prepared for thanksgiving." He thought about it.

"What do I need?" He asked me.

"You're almost growing out of your pants." He looked down and saw what I was talking about.

"Can we get some new games?" I nodded and kissed his head.

"Stay up as late as you want, but I'm going to bed." He hopped down and put the stool away. He hopped up the stairs and headed up to his room. I checked down stairs and saw the girls were already off to bed. I turned off the lights and set the alarm. I checked on everyone then got into bed.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning I woke up to everyone in bed with me. I smiled at them.

"What's everyone doing up so early?" I asked them.

"Peter told us you want to go shopping?" Sara said.

"You need new leggon's," She nodded, "Yes we need to go shopping. First we'll go to the mall, and then we'll go to the store and get some food."

"What do I need?" Max asked.

"You need some shoes that don't have to tie. Bath time toys and night time books. I'm sure there's this train at that mall that you might want to ride." He smiled at me.

"What dose sissy need?" He asked.

"Right now your sissy doesn't need anything. But I'm sure we could find her something. Don't worry with three girls, we'll get all the shopping in that we need. Now let get up and have some breakfast." Everyone hopped off the bed and Lily held up her hands for me.

"We'll get dressed to go after we eat." I told them as I followed them down the stairs. Everyone had cereal, Lily had a bottle and I had my tea alone with some banana toast. When everyone was done, they washed up and headed up stairs to get ready. I got Lily and Max dressed then got dressed myself. It was jeans and a tee shirt day. I could still wear my old jeans if they were low on my hips.

My shirt was long enough to cover past my pants. I picked up lily and helped Max off the bed. I helped both of them into their coats. Sat Lily on her feet and got into my own. The other kids came in and Julia was holding a dipper bag.

"Anyone need to go potty before we leave?" I asked them. Everyone took their turns in the bathroom. Julia took Lily and I went also. When I got into the garage, the SUV was stared and they were singing along with the radio.

"Ready?" I asked everyone. They nodded and I pulled out of the garage. "Thank you for the dipper bag." I told Julia.

"I remember we always had one when Sara was a baby. Lily really likes things in her hair doesn't she?" I nodded and looked back. Today she had another flower in her hair. When I was done getting her dressed she throw a fit and keep on tapping her head.

"Sara has her own style, she likes to be girly but with some tom boy in it. You also have your own style, your always beautiful, but more laid back like I am. Lily back there likes the fluff. I was going to put her in pants and she wouldn't let me. She wanted the big pretty dress." Julie smiled and looked back. Lily was holding her bottle that had juice in it. She was kicking her feet and looked so cute.

"I can't wait till dad gets home. He's going to love them." Julia said.

"If we get home early can the guys come over?" Peter asked.

"I'm sure they will already be there, or show up while were shopping. If you want you can call and see if they will come over though." I told him. He nodded and took the phone I past back. Max was watching everything. I parked at the mall and waited for him to get off the phone.

"Your right, they want to come shopping also. Why do they like to go shopping?" Peter asked.

"They want to play with all the toys." I told him and got out. Peter took Max hand and I picked up Lily. I grabbed my purse and dipper bag. I stopped at the ATM and pulled out some money. Then got a cart to. Max got in the car part and I put Lily in the seat.

"Do you want to wait for the guys, or go play with toys without them?" I asked everyone.

"They can catch up." Peter said. We walked right to the toy store. Have you ever tried to keep your eyes on five kids in a toy store? Lily was easy, she stayed in her seat and played with toys I handed her.

"I think this is one of yours?" I looked back and saw Dates holding Sara. She was smiling. Put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Do you like my shoes?" She asked him.

"Yes sweetie, I always like your shoes."

"Now there's three more?" He nodded behind me and saw the guys walking over with them. Tank was holding Peter over his shoulder and Lester was holding Max up by his feet. Bobby and Pickson were behind Julia.

"Told you they would catch up. Now let us go and let us play with the toys." Peter said. Lester was throwing Max in the air and catching him. He was laughing and asking for more.

"No I need leggon's." Sara said.

"Alright, I'll take Sara to get some new clothes and you guys watch the kids." They all nodded, Dates put Sara on her feet and she took my hand. We started walking away and Lily screamed blood murder. I grabbed the cart and brought her with us.

"Do you want to get a new pair of shoes?" I asked her.

"Can I?" I nodded and we walked into a store that was for girls her size. We picked her out a new pair of shoes, they were line green. We also get 10 new pairs of leggons. She didn't want anything else after that. Lily did, she saw a dress she wanted. Sara helped me get some tights and shoes. We paid and headed out. I stopped at a baby store and got a few different kind of things to put on her head and in her hair.

Sara got past onto the guys and I took Peter out to get some new pants and a new pair of teensy and snow boots. He was easy and sent Julia out with me. She walked out holding Max's hand.

"Just thought it would be easier to bring him." She said and sat him on top of the car.

"How about I give you some money and you go find some stuff you want and we'll go get him some new shoes." She nodded, I have her some money.

"If I don't see you I'll head back to the toy store." I kissed her head and pushed both kids to a kid store for Max. The sales lady helped Max get some shoes he could put on. I got him a pair of snow boots also.

"Can we go back to the toys now?" I nodded and pushed him back. I saw Julia in a store looking at clothes, I looked around and saw Pickson leaning against a wall watching her. I nodded to him and headed back to everyone. I lifted Max off and started looking for different books. Max took off to look for toys. Lester grabbed him and walked away.

"Play." Max said.

"We will, I think I found just the thing for you." Lester told him and walked away.

"How about you honey, do you want to go play?" I asked Lily. She reached up for someone to lift her out. I did and sat her on her feet. She just looked up at me.

"Can you go play with Bobby?" I asked her. She looked over at Bobby and reached up for him. He picked her up and fixed her dress. They walked away to look at toys. I grabbed different books that I know they would like. Peter added to the pile with some board games. Max had some bath toys that he wanted. Julia found a few books and Lily found a bear. She wouldn't give it up either. Sara was last she held out a traveling lap table that you can do things on it. I nodded and she added it to the pile.

I paid and everyone headed to the food court.

"Everyone will get what they want." I said as they all started talking at once. Each guy took a kid and I grabbed something for myself and grabbed a table. The guys came back with their kids and two plates of food. Even Bobby got Lily something to eat. We all sat down and eat. I feed Lily as I eat. But she keep on waiting food from everyone plates.

"Now where are we going?" Lester asked.

"I need go food shopping now. But if you want you can head to the house with the kids who don't want to go?" I told them. Everyone looked around at each other.

"You can make up your minds as we head to the car." I told everyone and started cleaning up the table. I picked up Lily and the buys grabbed the bags and Max. It was snowing and I didn't want to get his feet wet. Sara got a few feet and Tank picked her up also.

"Sweetie your shoes are always pretty, but it's winter. Maybe you should think about boots?" I asked her.

"But there's not pretty." She said.

"Then it's were around to carry you." Tank told her. They put the bags in the back of their SUV's.

It came down to the girls wanted to go shopping with me and the boys wanted to go home and play. We moved Max's set into the other SUV. I kissed them and let them take off. When I opened the front door, I stopped. Lester was smiling at me.

"I'll drive." I rolled my eyes and he followed me around and helped me in.

"Why are you coming?"

"I get the feeling this stop at the store isn't a normal stop, we don't want to you over to and I chose to come with the pretty ladies." He told us. I sat back and let him drive.

We parked at the store and he just looked around.

"Why is everyone going crazy?"

"It's the first big storm. People are stocking up in case something goes wrong." I pulled my coat closed and pulled up my hood. Then opened the back door and covered Lily." She pulled her hand out and let the snow fall on it. Then started laughing.

"I've got you?" Lester said and picked Sara up right out of the SVU. He clothes the doors. Julia was carrying my purse and dipper bag.

"Are you sure dad will make it home in this?" Julia asked us.

"Ranger's made it home in worries that this. There once was this." He stopped talking when I gave him a look. "Let's just say we had some good times." When we got inside I put Lily in the sit and took the list out of my purse. We walked around and stocked up on everything. We also followed the list. Lester got another cart and pushed it with all the heavy things.

"Steph I think you have enough." I shrugged and keep on shopping.

"Mom," Sara called out to me. I stopped and looked back at her. She was sitting on the cart holding up a box of popsicles. I nodded and she put it in the cart. I did watch Lester drop a few more different kinds of boxes in also.

"Maybe we shouldn't have brought him. He knows just how to use them to get what he wants." Julia told me.

"You know you can get things also." She nodded and pointed to some of the things she's added. We got to the checkout stand and Lester and Julia took everything out of the carts. I added some drinks, candy and gun to the pile.

I paid and bundled Lily back up. We got to the SUV and Lester unloaded the carts. We got in and started the SUV.

"Where are we going to put all this?" Sara asked.

"The freezer in the garage. Les hurry your making everyone cold." I yelled back. He didn't answer me just shut the door. I smiled and turned the heat up. Les opened the door and got in. He was covered in snow.

"I'm not going shopping with you again." He told me and pulled out of the parking lot. I looked back and saw Lily was falling asleep. Then noticed so was Sara. I smiled and laid my hand on my stomach. "Dose he move a lot?" Les asked me. I looked over at him. Then took my hand and laid it on my stomach. He felt the baby kick.

"Not a lot, but Lisa say's as he grows that will change."

"Does it bother you?" He asked me.

"I kind of like it," He just smiled at me. We pulled throw the gate and saw someone has been over the driveway. He parked in the garage. Julia grabbed my purse and dipper bag and headed into the house. I grabbed Lily and he got Sara. We laid them in their beds and I told the guys where everything went. I went throw the clothes and put that away also.

"Ellea brought over dinner as Logan was doing the driveway." Tank told me.

"Are you guys staying?"

"No with the weather we don't want to get stuck here. We'll see you Monday little girl." He kissed my check and head out. The rest of the day we just hung out. We had bath time with toys and I to everyone. Max and Lily fell to sleep before I was done. Sara, Peter and Julia headed off to bed when I was done. I tucked everyone in and got ready for bed myself. I fell right to sleep.

I thought about flying, but decide to drive the SUV I found for Steph. The drive was long and the weather never got better. When I pulled onto the driveway I smiled. Someone has been taking care of my family well. The driveway has been cleared.

I parked in the garage and waited for it to close before I got out. I walked throw the house and locked up behind me. I checked on all the kids and smiled when I got to the new kids rooms. The little boy's room was made up just for him. I covered him back in his blanket and walked over to the little girls room. There sleeping in the crib was a little princess. I covered her also and moved onto my room.

Sleeping in the middle of the bed on her back was Steph. I took a fast showed and got in the bed with her.

"I love you babe." I covered her growing stomach and kissed the back of her head.

No matter what time I went to sleep, I was up no later than 6. I kissed her head and moved away from her. Before she could roll over, I moved pillows around her. I grabbed a pair of pants and headed down to get a cup of coffee and start making breakfast.

"Daddy," Sara said running into the room. I caught her when she jumped.

"Morning sweetie, are you the first one up?" I asked her. She nodded and kissed my check.

"I am, did mommy tell you about Max and Lily?" She asked me.

"She sure did, I also saw them last night when I was checking on everyone. Do you like them?" I asked her and sat her on the counter to move foot to a plate and put it in the stove.

"Yes, can I keep them?" She asked.

"I don't know sweetie, mommy told me they were still looking for family. But I'm sure we'll be able to keep them till them. Don't worry about it, I won't let them go anywhere, where they might get hurt." She smiled at me.

"I'm glad, mommy got me now leggon's and a new pair of shoes." She told me.

"Did she, has someone been able to talk you into a pair of snow boots yet?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Daddy there aren't pretty." I smiled and leaned over and kissed her head.

"Then I guess you should go get my bag from the SUV, I might change your mind." I helped her hope off, checked the food and followed behind. I opened the bag and grabbed both the bags that were back there. We headed back inside. I sat one by the washed and the other on the kitchen table. She opened it.

"Daddy." She pulled out a bright yellow pair of snow boots. They had black dots everywhere.

"Pretty enough for you?" She slipped her feet in the boots and came over.

"Do you like them?" They looked silly with her PJ's, but everything else they would look good. Bight and make her stand out, but pretty.

"I think there very pretty sweetie." She looked back at the bag.

"What else did you get?"

"I might have got something for everyone. It all started with those boots. I saw them and thought of you." She came over and I picked her up. She kissed me.

"Thank you daddy, I love you." I kissed her back.

"You're welcome, I love you to."

"Who are you?" I turned and saw the little boy standing in the doorway.

"Max this is our dad, dad this is Max. You don't have to call him that, the guys call him Ranger." The little boy thought about it.

"Ranger dad?" The boy said finely. I nodded to him.

"You can call me that, how about Sara shows you what you got while I get the rest of the food cooked." She nodded and let me set her on her feet. She walked over to the bag and looked throw everything. I watched her finely pull out a leap frog I pod. Max walked over to her and looked at it.

"For me?" He asked us.

"Yes it's for you, there are games on the top and learning program's on the bottom. Someone told me you liked to learn." He took it slowly and looked it over. Then ran over to me. I picked him up and held him as he hugged me.

"Thank you Ranger Dad."

"You're welcome Max." He sat on my arm and just looked at it. "Did you get something for sissy?" He asked me.

"Yes, but I'm sure you won't want to share with her." He looked up at me.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Let Sara show you what I got your sissy and you can make up your mind." He nodded and sat him down. He ran over to the table and Sara held up a dress and the head thing to go with it.

"I don't want to share that, Ranger dad."

"Silly he told you wouldn't want to. Do you want us to go wake everyone up?" She asked me.

"Let them wake up themselves. When did mommy go to bed?" I asked them.

"She read to us and went to bed at the same time as us. Should we go get Lily before she wakes up mommy?" Sara asked me.

"You can try?" Steph said and walked into the kitchen with a sleeping baby on her shoulder. She sat her in the high chair and I noticed she wasn't sleeping. She walked over to me and I kissed her. Then she got a bottle together for the baby.

"Mommy look at what daddy got me." Sara said and held out her foot.

"I thought you said, there were no snow boots that were pretty." Steph asked her.

"Daddy proved me wrong and got me really pretty boots. He got you something also." Sara told her. I smiled and looked back at her. She folded her arms and looked at me.

"What did daddy give me?" Sara held out her hand and Steph took it. They walked out of the room. Lily started crying at once. Max just looked at me and was waiting. I walked over to Lily and smiled at her.

[What's wrong princess.] I picked her up. She let my lay her on my arms and put the bottle back in her mouth. She looked up at me and was waiting for something. "Do all women like it when I speak Spanish to them?" I asked her. Her eyes never left my face.

"Are we going to eat soon Ranger dad?" Max asked me.

"You brought home a SUV?" Steph asked walking back into the kitchen. I smiled at her and passed her plates.

"Do you like it?" I asked her.

"It's very fancy, why did you get it?"

"With two more kids you need more room. It's safe and there are steps on the sides. The only other things would be a van. Sorry babe you're not a soccer mom. The inside is very fancy also. The kids will love it. Heated seats, it has the works babe." I told her.

"Why did you get a SUV?" She asked again.

"I bought it a while ago. It was finely done and I drove it back here. When I say the works I mean everything I could think of, it has it."

"Will it start from here?" Julia asked walking into the kitchen with Peter.

"Yes it will start from here. There are a lot of things you'll be able to do once I talk you throw them. The car comes with a PDA." I told her.

"Can we watch movies in it?" Peter asked.

"Yes," They helped Steph set the table and we moved the food over.

"Can the seat's go down and disappear?" Sara asked.

"All of them can be laid down and hidden. I also added a fourth roll. That will take up the trunk space, if there up. They also will give you 11 seats. But all of them besides the front two can fold down."

"So we can put a walk way in? That would be nice." Steph finely said. I smiled and passed the food around. Lily just laid in my arm.

"Plans for the day?" I was everyone when I was done eating.

"Homework." Julia said.

"Games on." Peter said.

"I don't have any." Everyone else told me.

"Before you both run off to do that, there's something in the bag for you." They looked over at the bag and hurried up and eat their food. They washed off their plates and looked in the bag. Julia got a pair of boots also. But they were more in her style. They were dark brown leather and had a small heal on them. She hugged me and ran out. Peter got a jersey of his favorite player right now. He hugged me and ran out.

"Did Miss Lily get something?" Steph asked me. I nodded and Max grabbed the dress. He handed them to Steph. She held it up and smiled. "Who told you?" She asked me.

"Hectors sent me the pictures while I was gone. She was always in a pretty dress and something on her head." I told her.

"She won't let me put her in pants unless she's getting ready for bed." I nodded and looked down at her. She was done with the bottle, but liked where she was.

"Every girl has her own style." I said.

"And every girl falls for you, you're going to have a daddy's girl right there." Steph kissed me and helped Max clean up. She started cleaning up after me and everyone.

"Are you going to be ok with that, you seem like a daddy's girl to me?" I told Sara.

"I can share, she doesn't take up too much of you." Sara kissed me as she walked past. She and Max walked out together and went to play. I grabbed Steph and pulled her on my lap.

"What about you, can you share?" I asked her.

"We might not get to keep them Ranger."

"I'll deal with that. Tank has already put in more than one screech. We can't find any family for them. Worry about now. Can you share me?" She leaned down and kissed me.

"She's going to be a princess, and she has a daddy now to make sure she is one. But pecking out, she's showing an attitude."

"Her mommy is my queen and has an attitude. I'll make sure everyone is just want they want to be. Julia is module and growing into a beautiful young woman. I might not like it all the time, but she is. Peter is a major sports fan. He's all about being with the guys and playing. Sara is bight and showy. She wants people to see her and stand out. But it has to be pretty. From what I can see Max wanted to know everything, but it will take him time to open up with us. Lily here is a princess, she wants to be pretty and fell pretty. Mommy wants everyone to be happy. You have made me more than happy. You filled ours life's with things we never thought we wanted. The whole time I was gone, all I could think of you guys. Then I saw the picture of you in the elevate pregnant holding Lily and Max. I love you." She leaned down and kissed me.

"I love you to Ranger. Come on and let's see what everyone has gotten into." I nodded and got up with her. We headed down to the family room and watched the game. Max sat on Staph's lap and asked questions. Julia was doing her homework and Sara was drawing. Once Lily got bored, I gave her a toy and let her play with it. But she didn't want to move from where she was.

After the game and a few movies, we eat between all of that. I leaned against the door and watched Steph read to the kids. Lily was already in her bed and asleep. I carried everyone to bed when the book was over. Then picked Steph up and carried her off to bed. She was asleep before I could even lay her down. I laid down behind her and felt the baby kicking.


	16. Chapter 16

The last few days have flown by. What I thought was funny would be walking into Ranger office and he dealing with business with Lily asleep on his arm. Most the day they were up with Ellea. When Ranger could he would stall Lily away. Max couldn't be pulled away from his toys. I just walked in on him grilling two guys. He's face meant business, but every time Lily would kick her feet up, he fixed her dress. When she wanted a toy, he would grab it.

"Yes Sir," They said when he was done talking, got up and walked out.

"She sure dose have you wrapped around her little finger." I told him.

"She likes working with me." He told me.

"No, she likes being with her daddy, are you two ready to go home?" I asked him. He nodded and started cleaning up.

"Go get Max and we'll meet you down stairs." I nodded and walked out shacking my head.

"What did they do?" I asked when I walked back into my office. Tank was sitting there waiting for me.

"They missed last night's shift. They tried to blame it on the scheme. When we showed it to them they went on to blame it on the two people not taking their place when they said they would. It was too bad for them they went with that. No one can change shifts without getting it signed off by myself or Ranger. Only the core team can do things like that." Tank told me.

"Pickson and Dates do?"

"They work closely with your family. Ranger transferred them here for that reason. Some of the guys have noticed they aren't held to the same leave as everyone else. Dates and Pickson are only on pickups and your family. On the weekends, they pull shifts on the floor." He told me.

"So, the guys are acting out because those two are getting special treatment. Then you see Ranger walking around with a baby and they think they can act the same." I said and pulled on my jacket.

"We'll deal with it little girl."

"No, I'll deal with it Monday. Those are my guys, they work my follow more than your shifts. Ranger transfers two guys here for one job. We under staffed and he didn't want to take from our staff for this job. Men." I rolled my eyes.

"Two ass chowing's, I don't know if the men can take that." He said but was smiling. I leaned against the desk again.

"Things are pretty easy around here I think. Why are they complaining in the first place? I remember when you guys never had any free time. Maybe I shouldn't have given them at extra day off."

"Go home and think about it. Lisa and I will be over tomorrow morning." Tank kissed me, walked me out of the office and shut the door. Max ran over to me carrying his coat and I pad.

"You look ready to go home." I told him. He nodded and handed me both thanks I helped him into his coat and took his hand.

"Yes, I am, are you?"

"Sure, am honey," We got in the elevator. It opened in the garage and the SUV was waiting for us. I helped Max in and he got himself in his seat.

"Home Ranger dad." Max said once I was sitting. Ranger just smiled and drove us home.

"Are you ready for tomorrow babe?" He was smiling at me.

"Are you, mixing my family with your family and our family is going to be." I couldn't find the right work.

"Different. Your family is bringing Italian and mine is being Cubin. You're cooking American. I really don't know what the guys are bringing?" He told me.

"There bring American, I really hope my mother doesn't start something." He kissed my hand.

"Don't worry babe." The rest of the ride was quiet. We pulled into the garage and Max got out of his seat once we were parked. Ranger gave him a look.

"Ranger dad you said I couldn't get out when we were moving. You never said anything about when we weren't moving. Anyways were home." I let him out and Ranger grabbed Lily. When we were in the family room, he sat her on her feet. He fixed her dress.

"How was school?" He asked everyone. I leaned against the wall and waited for him to notice there was something different about the room. Finely he looked up. He saw and looked over to me. He raised an eye brow.

"Dad you remember me asking if Chris could come over today. This is Chris." Julia said. Lily took a few steps and fell on her butt. He picked her up before she could start crying.

"Chris?" He asked the both of us.

"Chris this is Carlos, I'm Steph. Are you staying for dinner?" I asked him. He nodded.

"His dad will be here at 9 to get him." Julia told us. I smiled at her and pulled Ranger out of the room with me.

"A boy babe?"

"Yes, a boy, they are doing a project for school together. She's been asking if he could come over so they could work on it."

"It looks like they've just been watching TV." He said. He wasn't happy about this and wanted to head back down there and tell him to leave.

"There just hanging out." I told him. He didn't like this at all. His little girl was growing up and he hates that idea.

"Shouldn't there be someone,"

"Daddy," Sara ran in from outside. I took Lily and put her on her feet. Sooner than later she was going to learn how to walk. If she falls on her butt, she needs to get right back up and keep trying.

"Sweeties you're all cold and wet." Ranger said. Dates and Pickson walked in and shut the door. Peter's checks were bright red, but the smile on his face was huge.

"We played out in the snow."

"Upstairs and change. I don't want you getting sick." I told them. Ranger kissed both of them and set them up.

"You let a boy in the house with Julia?" Ranger asked and centered on then.

"They called me and I said it was fine. Ranger get over it. I would rather them here and hanging out, then somewhere else doing gods know what. After dinner, they might work on their homework. If not, that's alright also. Now leave the guys alone." He just stood there with his arms folded.

"We're heading out, see you in the morning." I hugged them and let them leave.

"Babe?"

"You were the one who said it was alright that Chris came over. It's your own fault that you thought he was a she. Now are you going to help me make dinner?" He walked over to me and kissed me.

"I'll cook dinner, go change." I kissed him again and walked out.

"Mom," I pocked my head out of the closet. Julia shut the door and sat on the bed.

"What's up honey?"

"Dad's upset isn't he."

"Your dad will get over it." I thought about it and pulled a shirt over my head. I kissed her and ran out of the room. I slide in the kitchen and walked over to Ranger. He was cooking and smiled back at me.

"Thought I forget something, didn't you?" He asked me.

"Everything is in the safe?" He looked down at me.

"Babe,"

"Ranger?"

"Yes, babe I undress before I walk into the house. I was thinking about it a few times. But after Sara carried around my belt, I won't bring anything in the house. I won't have shot him with you gun either." He leaned down and kissed me.

"Good, come on princess." She reached put for me. We walked back down stairs and I sat her on her feet.

"What was that about?" Julia asked me.

"Just had to check something out. Nothing to worry about." She nodded but was still looking worried.

"Dad's upset isn't he. I thought he said yes?" Julia asked.

"It's just something you'll have to get used to. He's your dad and isn't ready for you to grow up. Peter still thinks girls are icky."

"Mom it isn't like that. Really we're just hanging out and going to do some homework." I nodded and sat down on the other side of the couch. Lily walked over to me with her bare. She falls a few times, but made it finely.

"I know, honey. But your dad sees a boy and that's all he's going to think about. Give him some time and I'll make sure he isn't armed." She started laughing at me. Chris just looked more worried. Then Julia saw that I was telling the truth.

"That would really be bad, did you check?" I nodded.

"Ever since Sara came running after him with his belt he locks everything up before walking into the house. So, do the guys, so you have nothing to worry about." I told them.

"Do you think he'll get over it soon?"

"Maybe in the next 50 years he might." Chris laughed at that, Julia thought about it and joined him.

Sara and Peter came in. They were in warm clothes and sat down. I looked around and didn't see Max. I left Lily on the floor went to look for him. He was sitting on the counter watching Ranger cook.

"Ranger dad there just watching TV, mommy watches TV with guys a lot." Max told him.

"Yes, but mommy is mine and every guy knows it. Julia is still too young to think about boys." Ranger told him.

"I think girls are cute." Max said. Ranger shook his head.

"Your too young also, want to try."

"Ranger she might not think boys are icky, but there just friends." They both looked over to me.

"Friends can true into more." I walked over and kissed them both. Then grabbed some dices and sat the table. Max handed me several and walked around the table with me. I grabbed cups.

"Mommy can friends turn into more?" Max asked.

"Did you know me and daddy were friends first. Then we because best friends and finely here we are." I told him. He nodded and was trying to understand.

"So, if Julia becomes best friends with Chris, they will have kids?" Ranger started coiffing to hid the swears.

"No daddy and I are much older and we took many years to get to here. Julia will also have many years to make lots of friends. When she finds, someone special she might decide to get married and have kids together. You mister have even longer. Girl are very pretty and being friends with them should be the only thing on your mind." He smiled at me and walked out of the kitchen.

"Babe?"

"Don't worry, if things change I'll tell you and let you be dressed around her dates. But now there just friends like Tank and I." He let out a breath.

"Alright." He started moving the food to the table as everyone walked in. I took Lily from Julia and put her in her high chair. She held out her bare for me to take. She didn't once and got it all messy, she didn't like that.

"Food I'm so hungry Ranger dad." Max said. Ranger sat a different plate in front of me and sat down.

"Mommy why do you always get better food?" Max asked me.

"I wouldn't be so sure; would you like to try. You didn't like my tea?" He thought about it and pulled his plate closer to him. I helped him put food on his plate. Then I added a little for Lily. I cut it up and gave her, her spoon. Then cut up my food and started eating.

"Alright I want to tease." Max said. I put a little of everything on the frock and let him tease. He sat back and chowed slowly. Everyone was watching him.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

"We had that last night." He said finely.

"Yes, we did. But you have to eat your own food." He nodded and went back to eating his food. When Ranger was done eating he grabbed his plate and Lily. I smiled when I watched him wash her off and sat her on her feet. Then put his plate in the dishwasher. He was walking back to the table when the phone rang. He picked it up.

"Monsoon," He said. He listened for a few minutes and looked over at me. I watched his face change and he flipped on the outside lights.

"Wow." Everyone said and looked outside. You couldn't see feet from the door, that's how hard the snow was coming down.

"That won't be a problem. Of course, I'll make sure he doses after dinner." Ranger said and hung up the phone.

"You're staying the night Chris. The roads are closed and your father doesn't want to chance it. Call him when you're done eating." Ranger said calmly and sat down.

"What about thanksgiving." Sara said and her shoulders dropped.

"We'll see what the weathers like tomorrow sweetie. If anything, we'll just put it off a few days." She got up and sat on his lap. He put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"We'll we still get to watch the game tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"Yes, the game will still be on." I told him. He smiled and went back to dinner. I eat slowly and looked down the table at Ranger. He smiled at me. And his eyes went dark.

"I've been stocking up incase this storm came in tomorrow. I should have a pair of PJ's that fit you Chris." He just nodded and really didn't know what to think.

"I'm sure if you really want to go home dad will get you there." Julia told him. She saw what I saw and was worried.

"I don't want to go out in that, but you're alright with me staying?" He asked and looked over to Ranger.

"You can be friends with my daughter, but you can't date her. I can't stop the weather and I should have known the storm was coming in, I've been watching it all week. I'm sorry that you'll stuck here, but there's room." Ranger told him.

"This house is huge." Chris said.

"It the bat cave, coolest place on earth to live. You should play hid and go seek with us." Everyone started laughing.

"Or you can just get out a board game and put in a movie." I told all over them. Ranger smiled at me, but I know he wouldn't mind hiding out somewhere together.

Ranger and I cleaned up for everyone so they could go play. Lily even walked out with everyone after someone got her, her bear. I was cleaning off the table and looking out the window.

"Thanksgiving isn't going to happen, tomorrow, is it?" I asked him. He came over and put his arms around me. We looked out the glass doors at all the snow that was coming down.

"I'm sorry babe I don't think so. This storm shouldn't have been on us till this weekend." He kissed my neck.

"I could still cook," I said.

"You could if you want, tomorrow well go over this again." He kissed my neck. I'll right I thought. "I'm going to get Lily ready for bed, I'll come find you when I'm done." I kissed him and let him walk away. When I was done cleaning up the kitchen I turned off the light. The doors and lights in the living room were on and open. I walked down the hallways and looked in. Chris and Peter were sitting in front of the fish tank.

"Your parents are different." I heard Chris say.

"Very different, but cool." Chris nodded his head. Their heads moved as the fish moved.

"Even though you dad doesn't like me, he let me stay. These fish are cool. I haven't seen anything like this before."

"Dad likes fish, you'll catch him in here sometime just looking at it. I think he's thinking. But fish are his thing. Mom likes them to, but after a few minutes she can't sit still anymore." I just smiled.

"Why did he let me stay?"

"It's snowing," Peter just shrugged. He didn't care either way.

"Wow a star fish,"

"Dad told me this is a salt water tank. There's sea horse somewhere. They like to hid I think. There's also a puffer fish. See right there." Peter pointed out the fish.

"Way cool, Julia told me you guys have hamsters but nothing about fish."

"I feed them next, dad had this really cool house build for Rex mom's hamster. But he lives at Rangerman now. So, we filled it with our own. There are cool to." Peter told me.

"Your parents are cool." Chris said again.

"Guys are wearied." Julia whispered to me. I put my arm around her.

"They grow out of that sometimes." I said, both of them heard me and turned around.

"What are you two doing?" Peter asked me.

"I came to see if you guys were going to come play with us." Julia said. Peter nodded and got off his stool and moved it back. Chris followed him and did the same thing. I kissed Peter as he walked past and turned off the lights. I left the doors open and set the alarm on the door.

I checked on the kids, they were all playing a game and watching a movie.

"I'm heading to bed, don't forget to turn off the TV and light." They nodded to me.

"You don't have to read to me tonight mommy." I kissed Max head and said goodnight. Ranger was in Lily's room rocking her. He was zooned right into her. I got into bed and fell right to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

I woke up the next morning and Ranger was still sleeping behind me. Slowly I moved out of his arms and out of the bed. I used the bathroom and pulled on my robe and slippers. I walked out of the room and checked on Lily. She was still fast asleep with her bear. As I was walking down the stairs I heard something.

I walked down the stairs and walked into the living room. The news was one and there were a bunch of guys sitting around my couches.

"Morning boomer." Bobby said.

"What are all you guys doing here?" I asked him.

"It's thanksgiving and you promised us food." Lester said and shrugged. I walked over and sat on the side of the couch.

"How did you get here? Last night all the roads were closed." They nodded at me.

"Sorry Boomer they are still all closed. We got about 4ft of snow last night. The whole town is dead to the world." Bobby told me. Aleve was sleeping in his lap.

"If the roads are closed how are you here?" I asked them.

"Beautiful I'm hurt, we're the best of the best. You really think a little snow would stop us. You think a little snow would stop Rangerman." He smiled at me.

"How did you get here?" I asked Tank finely when I wasn't getting answer.

"Changed the tires on Lester's truck and my hummer. We've changed tires on SUV all morning." Tank told me.

"It's also a good thing Aleve and I spent the night or they would be date less like everyone else. Did you have to have something special to get into the building?" Lisa asked me, walking into the room and sat on Tank.

"Yes, this little wand thing." I told her. She started laughing.

"No I mean you never see any girls around. Last night was the first time I've ever been in the building. Carlos is my brother. How did you make it in?" Lisa asked.

"Ranger left me his truck once when he was leaving. People started braking into my apartment and I always wanted to know where Ranger lives. I followed the GPS back to the building. They know at once I was there and Ranger told them to let me in. I didn't know this and thought I was being sneaky." I told her.

"Do the guys bring home woman?" She asked.

"Most the guys have a house besides the building. Woman don't normal make it throw the gate. I don't know why." I said thinking about it.

"It like bring home a woman to meet your family," Ram said.

"Most the time woman aren't really cool with the job, if we brought then to the building they would ask question. We don't always like answer those questions." Victor told me.

"And you normal only have one thing on your mind." Lisa said to them. I smiled, I really did like her.

"So, you put different tires on and made it here?" I asked them.

"It wasn't snowing at that time. It started up again. We caught the eye of the storm, now your stock with us." Lester told me with a smile.

"We'll there's only four rooms free," I said, got up and walked out. I guess we were going to have a thanksgiving.

"You don't need to cook just because we showed up." Lisa said following me out.

"I was going to anyways. Are you alright being stock here?" I asked her.

"Steph this house is beautiful. If I really need to leave I could. Do you want help?" She asked. I smiled at her and nodded. We walked into the garage and grabbed someth0ing's. I started thinking about it and just started putting everything on the hood of Lester's truck. They could carry everything in for me.

When I walked back inside I saw what they were talking about. There tires were huge. All the guys beside Bobby got up and went to grab everything for me. I filled both sinks with hot water and but the ham and turkey in them.

"Full speared?" Lester asked me.

"Pretty much, it's a good thing there's three stoves." I smiled. And started heating them all up.

"Why is there only 4 rooms'?" Lester asked and leaned against the island.

"Chris had to stay the night. He's a friend of Julia's and they were working on homework last night. Four rooms if he's stock here."

"So, five people have to bunk somewhere else?" I asked me. We'll I think he was asking me. I looked up at him. Lisa was reading a list I put together.

"No four, four of you will have to fine somewhere to bunk. There are enough places around here for you." He looked at me and did the math. He couldn't find out what I was talking about. I held up my fingers and started to put couples together. He was lost on the last couple.

"You'll notice later, are you going to help or get in the way?" He put his hands up and walked out. We started working together making pies for tonight. "For being Ranger's sister you sure do know how to make pumpkin pie." I told her.

"I got to skip all those cooking classes that they did with Ranger. I love my mama's cooking. Just don't like to cook it. I don't really like cooking at all. Most of what I cook is normal food." She told me. I smiled and got back to work.

"Lisa what are you doing here?" Ranger asked walking into the kitchen with a fussy Lily.

"Cooking." She told him and started rolling out some more crust.

"How did you get here to cook," Ranger asked as he was putting together a bottle.

"Tank." She shrugged. He looked back at that. Then at me. I pointed down. He shook the bottle as he walked out. I smiled when she started reaching for it and he didn't notice. I saw all the guys walking pass the kitchen and to the back door. They were taking everything that can't be in the house at the same time.

"What's that about?" Lisa asked and noticed it also.

"Ranger has a rule about being weapons in the house. Long story." She nodded and didn't need to know anymore. Aleve came in and pitched in. We got the pies in the stove.

"If you're tired, you can go grab a bed and crash." I told her.

"Just trying to wake up." She told me. I pointed to the coffee pot and her eye light up.

"Mommy," Max yelling running into the kitchen. He slid to a stop in front of me. I looked down at him. "The guys are here, what's that smell." He said and started looking around for it.

"Yes, the guys are here, and that's the pies. Are you hungry?" He nodded and walked over to the table. I grabbed the milk and followed behind him. Then grabbed the different kinds of cereal and lined them up. He waited for the stack of blows and spoons.

"Pies, why?"

"The storm is still out there, but the guys wanted to have thanksgiving anyways. So, we're cooking pies for that." He looked over at the door and saw all the snow.

"Can we play in that?" He asked.

"I'm sure you can talk one of the guys into it." I kissed his head and let him eat. Aleve and Lisa were having a cup of coffee. I started a pot of water for my tea.

"That smells wonderful, what is it?" Lisa asked when I made a cup of tea. I showed her the box. I thought about it and handed her my cup. She took a drink. Closed her eyes and savored the tease.

"You like it?" I asked her.

"It teases wonderful." I made myself another cup. Aleve took that from me and teased it. She handed it back and nicely covered her dislike with taking a drink of her coffee.

"Don't worry about it, no one has liked it before. I'm surprised Lisa dose." Aleve smiled at me.

"It's tease like pond water. Smell really nice though." I nodded to her.

"I've got that before. Really don't worry about it. Ellea started bring it to me and I love it." She just looked at me. "The guys really need to get over themselves and just bring girls home. Ellea and her husband takes care of the building. She's the reason why everything is always clean and there's always food around. When I stay there she takes care of me. She's like the mother of the building." I told her.

"She's also like a third cousin, I think." Lisa said and was thinking about it. I just rolled my eyes.

"Ellea is our aunt in law." Ranger said walking into the kitchen. "Why dose that matter?" He asked us.

"Aleve didn't know who Ellea was. I told her that's who found the tea for me. Where's Lily?" I asked him.

"With the guys. If she can get spoiled she'll take that over anything." He said and kissed my head. I made him a cup of coffee and pasted it back to him. When he didn't take, it I looked at him. He was staring at Lisa.

"Ranger." He took the cup and took a drink.

"Roesa is going to be very mad at you when she finds out." He kissed my head and walked away.

"Hey what are you talking about." Lisa called after him. I turned and watched he didn't stop walking.

"Ranger." I called after him. When he still didn't stop, I followed him out. He was leaning against the wall right outside the kitchen. Pulled me to him and kissed me.

"Morning." I smiled up at him.

"Good morning babe, you don't have to cook for us."

"I've already started, what were you talking about?" I saw that he wished I would have forgotten that.

"That tea you're in love with is special blend. It's made just for woman who are pregnant. Ellea got it for you because you were not copping well. It's from the old world." He told me.

"What do you mean not copping well?"

"You were losing weight, couldn't sleep, your emotions were off the wall and then morning sickness hit." He told me.

"So, no one likes it because it's only for pregnant woman?" I asked him and didn't believe it.

"There's things in it that helps the mother and child. The smell and tease draws woman who are with child. Like I said it's from the old world." He told me again.

"Wait Lisa likes the tea?" He just looked down at me. "Oh." He leaned down and kissed me.

"Yes,"

"She could just like the tea."

"Babe," I leaned forward and kissed him.

"Why would Roesa be upset?" He smiled down at me.

"I'm the favorite and can get away with a lot of stuff. Roesa will expect there to be a marriage before a baby. She'll know at once when she sees Lisa. I get away with it because of what happened with my first marriage. But she's still waiting for a marriage even with me." I nodded and looked back up at him. "I won't let her push you, she can't push me either." He put his arm around me and pulled me to him. He kissed me just how I liked. When I pulled away I had to catch my breath. I watched him walk up the stairs. I checked him out, then walked back into the kitchen.

"What was he talking about?" Lisa asked me. I smiled and shrugged at her. I watched her look my face over. Then dropped it. She really thought I couldn't get what I wanted out of Ranger. He was a private person, but all I had to do was ask and he would tell me. I checked the turkey and ham.

The kids walked in and sat down to eat. Chris looked at all his choses then grabbed what he wanted. They all looked ready to go right back to bed. I grabbed my tea and started reading my list.

"Lester?" Peter asked, I looked up and saw Lester walk into the kitchen. He sat down and joined then for breakfast. I grabbed some mugs and filled one with coffee. I sat it down next to him and went back to my list.

The guys came in and got some coffee, while we were taking out the pies.

"Where's Lily?" I asked them. They looked at each other. I shook my head and headed down to the family room. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for someone to come get her.

"Did they forget you princess?" I picked her up and headed up to our room. I undressed her and pasted her in with Ranger to get cleaned up. He kissed me and let me walk away.

When I got back into the kitchen Lisa and Aleve started to make the stuffing. I opened the fridge and pulled out a pineapple and cheer. I started cutting it up and putting them in a blow.

"Did you guys think ahead?" Ranger asked walking into the kitchen dressed and with a dressed lily. He sat her in the high chair and gave her something to snack on.

"As in clothes to wear?" Lester asked.

"As in, who's watching over the building?" Ranger told him.

"Yes, and there checking in with me every hour. If we're needed the storm won't stop us. We came prepaid." Tank told him. Ranger just raised an eye brow. All the guys smiled, got up from the table and walked out of the kitchen. I followed Ranger and wanted to know what they were talking about. There on the side of the driveway was a long trailer with snowmobiles packed on it.

"I made a stop by my house." Lester told us.

"You went all the way across town to pick up six snowmobiles, just to drive all the way back here?" I asked him.

"Oh ya," He smiled and nodded.

"Wow," Peter said. Lester picked him up and walked over to the trailer.

"If you want I could take you home?" Ranger asked Chris.

"Do I have to?" Peter asked. Ranger shook his head no.

"I'll call your father later and talk to him. When the storm blows over, they will start to clear the roads. But that's the main roads, it will take some time for them to get this far." Ranger said.

"We also brought helmet and other things." Bobby said and picked up Sara to walk over. She really wanted to see what was going on.

"How long do you think it will take?" I asked Ranger.

"If the storm is as bad as I think, a few days. We can clear the driveway and plow our way anywhere we want with Lester's truck. But with all roads still closed there's nowhere to go."

"Your letting Chris stay?" I asked him.

"I said what I needed to last night. Peter likes him maybe a little more than Julia. If he's dad wants him home, I'll take him home. But for now, he's alright to stay. Do you think Lily would want to take a spin?" HE asked me. I kissed him and walked back into the house. I pulled her out of her high chair and walked her back to Ranger. He took her and walked outside.

As the kids played in the snow, we got everything cooking. With the girls help we moved the kitchen table to the side and opened the dining room doors.

"Why didn't I see this before?" Lisa asked me.

"The doors match the walls." Was all I could saw? It was a huge room with an even bigger table. I opened the china hutch and grabbed the fine china. Aleve brought in the high chair and Lisa put the booster seat in one of the chairs. Then came over and helped me seat the table. We set 18 places and stood back to look at everything.

"Wow, mom it's so pretty." Sara said. She was back in her PJ's.

"Did you have fun?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled.

"I came in because I needed to go potty." She told me.

"Please tell me you didn't go out like that?" She smiled at me and took my hand. In the Med room was all her snow clothes. I helped her back in them and put the helmet and goggles back on. She kissed me and ran outside. The girls walked in from the garage with a set of bags.

"Any room that's free is yours." They nodded and headed up stairs. I checked on the food and headed up myself. I showed and got ready for the day. I slipped on my slippers as I walked back out of the room. When I got back into the kitchen I pulled on an apron and read over my list. I got down to work and started putting everything in together.

"Mommy we had so much fun." Max said getting on a chair at the island.

"I'm glad, are they done or were you done?" I asked him.

"I'm hungry," I pushed a few platters towards him and let him pick. The girls came in.

"How did you get ready so fast?" Lisa asked me.

"That's a normal time for me." I told her and went back to pilling the potato in my hand. They came over and helped me.

"Babe gives me a time limit?" Ranger walked in carrying a bundled-up Lily. I pointed to the timers. He turned and walked back out. What was that about? Aleve took over and started making the mash potatoes. Ranger walked back in with Lily back in her dress and on his arm. He was also carrying two bottles of wine. He sat Lily on the island and opened both bottles.

"Did the guys really bring what I asked them to?" I asked him.

"Yes, they left it in the garage." I took Lily from him and let him get the rest. I gave her a piece of cheese. He walked in with the rest of the guys. They moved everything to the table. I put together some juice and they took that also. Slowly the kids walked in, they were changed.

"Is dinner almost ready?" Peter asked.

"Yes," I told him and moved out of the way so the guys could take the hot things to the table. When the timer went off, Ranger and Tank garaged them. I put to platters down next to them and they moved them from the pants to the platters. We moved into the dining room and sat down. Tank and Ranger cut of the meat.

They sat down and for the first time we blessed the food. Then we passed around the food and enjoyed. Lily tried everything, Max couldn't get enough. As we eat, Ranger put his hand on my leg. I looked over to him and saw he was smiling. I smiled back at him.

Everyone talked and had a good time eating the food. The kids headed down stairs to play games and everyone else started cleaning up. Ranger got on the phone with Chris dad, he stood behind me and helped me. But mostly he made sure I didn't do too much.

"Lisa?" Tank said as I was putting stuff away. There was something in his voice that I didn't understand. I looked over and saw Tank watching Lisa closely. Ranger had to leave the room from laughing.

"What do you want a cup?" She asked him. Almost all the guys just walked out of the room with Ranger. Tank just stood there watching her. She looked around and noticed something of off.

"No I would not like a cup, here let me take those." He took the dices she was picking up. Put them in the sink and walked out of the kitchen also.

"I know it's a normal thing for a guy not to want to help, but they just clear out really fast." Aleve said.

"Don't worry, they don't need to help. They mostly just get in the way." I told them. It took a few seconds, then they nodded and we started working again. They helped me do the dices and clean the kitchen. Then we went to look for everyone. The guys were playing poker and the kids were playing a board game.

"Babe," Ranger said when he pulled me on his lap.

"Who's winning?" I asked. No one answered me. I looked at them, then looked at Ranger. "Are you cheating?" I asked him.

"Babe?" He raised an eye brow. On the next hand, the guys brought over more chairs and dealt us in. I looked at my cards and looked around the table. Ranger was watching my face. He wasn't really cheating, just could read people really well.

When I started winning, all the guys looked at me.

"How are you doing that?" Bobby asked when I won again.

"I'm a daddy's girl, I learned how to play poker at a long time ago." I told them. They all just looked at me.

"You have no tells." Les told me.

"I do, so do all of you. I've watched you guys play enough to know about them. Even Ranger dose." I told them all. Now they were really looking at me.

"No, he doesn't,"

"Yes, he does." I smiled and showed my cards. Ranger looked at me and flipped his own.

"Are you sure about that?" Ram asked, seeing as I just lost. He thought I was full of it.

"I'm sure," I winked at him and dealt out the cards. I looked at mine and put in my bit. Slowly everyone did the same. Out of the corner of my eyes, I watched Ranger. He looked at his cards.

"What is it?" Les asked.

"I'm not going to tell you, you have to find out for yourself."

It was a long weekend. Monday, they had all the roads clear and we took Chris home. The guys went home the next day.


	18. Chapter 18

Five years later.

Chris and I stayed friends, not that I haven't wanted to change that. But he didn't. Winter formal was coming up and we've always talked about going together. Then today at lunch he told me he asked Cindy Davies. Cindy of all the people to ask.

I didn't talk to him the rest of the day. When the bell rang, I headed to my car.

"Julia?" Chris yelled after me. I didn't stop, I got into my car. It was already started and warmed up for me. I throw it in gear and pulled out. He was just standing there watching me. I was pissed. I drove home and parked the car in the garage.

I slammed the door and walked inside.

"Sissy," I stopped and picked up Steven. "What's wrong?" He asked me.

"Nothing, I didn't think you would be home already." He nodded and pointed to the office.

"Daddy brought us home. Lily and Emily are watching a movie. I came to get a drink." I smiled at him and walked us into the kitchen. I put my bag on the table and got him a juice box. "Thank sissy." I nodded and he ran back to watch the movie also. I headed to my father's office. He didn't look up when I walked in.

"Should I take the car away?" He asked me. So, someone called and told him what happened today.

"I don't care, take it. Do you know what Chris did today?" I asked him. He looked up at me finely and waited. "He asked Cindy to winter formal. Cindy Davies."

"Isn't she a cheerleader?" He asked me. I leaned forward and slapped my hands on his desk.

"Yes, she's a stupid cheerleader. Can you believe this, going to winter formal with her?" I throw my hands up and flopped down in a chair that was there.

"Who are you taking?" He asked me.

"God," I got up and walked out of his office. I grabbed my bag and headed up to my room. I slammed the door behind me. Doesn't anyone pay action to me around here? My phone went off. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw it was a text from Chris. I throw the phone on the bed and pulled my boxes out of my bag. I sat down at my desk and started doing my homework.

"Sissy?" My door slowly opened and Emily popped her head in.

"Hey?" She smiled and walked in. Like Lily had to be a princess, Emily was a full tomboy. "I thought you were watching a movie?"

"It over, daddy told me to come get you for dinner." She told me. I pushed my chair back and got up. She took my hand and we walked down stairs and into the kitchen. I helped her into her booster and sat down also. Mom was the last one to sit down. She put the rest of the food on the table and everyone dug in.

"Plans this weekend?" She asked everyone. When everyone was done, she looked at me.

"I have homework." I told her. I didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want to talk about it. I wasn't the first one done, but when I was done. I washed my plates off and headed back up to my room. As I shut my door I saw the dress bag behind the door.

A few weeks ago, I went shopping and found the prefect dress. I didn't tell anyone, but I bought it. I grabbed it and moved it to the back of my closet. I wasn't going to the stupid dance now. The only reason I even thought about it was because Chris said he wanted to go. I sat back down and pulled my books towards me.

I couldn't focus and pulled on my head phones. With music blasting in my ears I could finely get my work done.

I woke up the next morning with my music still on. I fell asleep on my desk last night still doing my homework. I pulled my head phone out of my ears and got up. I turned around and jumped. Chris was sitting on my bed going throw my phone.

"You never texted me back." I grabbed my phone out of his hand and walked out of my room. What the hell was he doing here. When I got to the kitchen I understood. Most the guys were here, they all looked ready for their normal game.

"You ok honey?" Mom asked me. I took the cup of coffee she handed me.

"Fell asleep working last night." She kissed my head. But let me walk away. I walked back into my room, Chris was still there.

"You're mad at me for something, what is it?" I asked. I sat on the bed and took off my boots.

"Shouldn't you be down stairs? It looks like the games about to start." I got up and pulled off my sweeter." When I grabbed my coffee cup, I noticed he was just looking at me. I looked down and didn't understand. He's seen me in less.

I just walked into the bathroom and shut the door. I took a shower and dried off. I pecked out my door and saw that Chris was finely gone. I got dressed and sat back down to get back to my homework.

"Sissy?" Emily asked pocking her head into my room.

"What's up?"

"Daddy's playing and Mommy had to go to work, can you get me a snack?" She asked me. I opened my bag and showed her my bag of candy. Her eyes light up and walked into the room. She climbed onto my lap and popped one into her mouth.

I worked for a few minutes, but I know she was getting board. I picked her up and walked out of the room. We put together snacks, then went down and put on a movie. Lily came down sometimes later and watched it with us.

"Why aren't you outside?" She asked me after a couple of minutes.

"I didn't feel like it today," She nodded and went back to watching the movie. When Emily fell asleep, I got up and put her in her bed. I wanted her to be able to nap without being woken up. I was finely hungry. I fixed something and sat down at the table.

"What's bothering you honey?" I looked up, mom walked over to the table and sat down.

"Why do you think something's brothering me?" I asked her.

"You don't normal speed or stay locking up in your room doing homework. Chris is here and you don't seem to care." She told me.

"Dose everyone know what I'm doing all the time. I wasn't locked in my room, I just have a lot of work to do this weekend. Chris is here to play with the guys. Why should I care?" I asked her and answered everything.

"Because he's been your best friends for years. What's changed in a day?" She asked me.

"He's taking Cindy Davies to the stupid winter formal." She looked at me then looked outside at the guys.

"Honey I didn't think you wanted to go?" I looked down at my plate and thought about it.

"We were going to go together. Then yesterday at lunch he comes over and tells me that he's going with her. I bought that stupid dress for nothing."

"No one's asked you?" I looked up at her. What did that have to do with anything?

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked her.

"I know you would like to go with Chris. You like him honey, maybe you need to make him see you more than just a friend. I asked if anyone else has asked because you could still go to the dance." I just looked at her, and then I smiled and thought that was a great idea. "So, someone's asked you?"

"Yes, a lot of guys have asked me really. I never understand why they always ask me. I never have gone to these things. But I do know who I'm going to say yes to." I kissed her and ran out of the room. I laid on my bed and pulled out my cell phone. I texted Ricky and asked him how he's day was.

'pretty good, what's up?' he asked back. I know he wasn't so sure why I was texting him.

'do you have anyone to go to the dance with?' I asked him back. I just wanted to get to the point.

'are you asking me?' he asked back.

'maybe,' I said to him.

'maybe you could meet me for lunch' He asked me.

'are you asking me out' That was a first I think. Guys ask me out, but I never even think about it.

'I'm at the mall, show up if you want.' He said. I just looked at my phone. It took me seconds to get up and opened my closet. I started flipping throw my clothes. Finely I found a pair of hip hugging jeans. But I couldn't find a shirt.

"Need some help?" I looked back and saw my mom watching me. She was smiling. I nodded, she walked into the closet and pulled out a sweeter. I changed and pulled on my boots. She pushed me into the bathroom.

"So, you have a date?"

"Just meeting for lunch, how did you know?"

"Honey I might be married, but I know what it's like to get ready for a date." I smiled at her and throw on some make up and brushed out my hair. She handed me my keys, phone and wallet. I kissed her.

"I thought dad was taking the car away for speeding?" I asked her.

"He would have taken the keys, if he was really taken the car away. Have fun and call if you're going to be late for dinner or going to miss it." I nodded and walked out with her. All the guys were in the kitchen getting a drink and warming up. Dad kissed my head and let me go.

"Where are, you going?" Chris asked me.

"Out," I waved my hand and headed to the garage. I got in the car and drove to the mall. I was parked in the parking lot and pulled out my phone.

'This maybe lunch, where should I meet you' I asked him.

'Food court,' he said. I got out of the car and walked in side. I stopped right before the food court and stopped. I back up a few steps and saw Hector smiling at me.

[What are you doing here?] I asked him after I walked over and hugged him.

[Fixing some wires. What are you doing here?] He told me.

[I have a maybe lunch,] I told him, but noticed he was looking over my shoulder. I looked back and saw Ricky watching us. I smiled at him.

[I don't like him.] Hector said. I rolled my eyes and walked away from him.

"Hey," I said to him.

"I didn't think you would come." He told me, but was still looking behind me.

"That's Hector by the way," He looked down at me. I pointed to the food court, he nodded and walked with me.

"So, who's Hector?" He asked.

"He's kind of family, he's fixing the wires. Don't ask me why." He looked down at me again and nodded to me. We looked around and picked a place to get food. "So, what are you at the mall?" I asked when I sat down.

"My mom's birthday is tomorrow, I'm trying to find something for her." I smiled at him.

"You have no idea what to get do you?" He shook his head no. "Want some help?"

"You want to help me go shopping for my mom's birthday?"

"I have nothing better to do, there's a football game going on at my house and it will be going on most the day. I was doing my homework before I texted you." I told him.

"A football game." He asked.

"Yes, mostly every Saturday there's one. I play sometimes," I shrugged. He was still just looking at me.

"You play football?"

"We'll it's not like a high school game. We play tackle, there aren't pads. Why are you so surprised that I would play football?" I asked him and still didn't understand. He waved his hand at me. "What does that mean?"

"Julia, I don't think I've even seen you out of heels. Most the really girls are jealous of you. Most of the guys would give anything to be with you. Everyone is always wondering how you're going to say yes to, then you never show up to those kinds of things. It's hard to believe you play football because you always look like a model." He told me. I just looked at him taking in everything he said.

"Why would anyone be jealous of me?" I couldn't believe him.

"Your hot as hell. I don't know if it's the fact that you play hard to get or not. But all the girls at school want to know how you get all the guys to want you."

"I don't want anyone to want me. I don't go to those things because I don't think they would be any fun. I'm just me." I shrugged at him.

"So why did you ask if I could go to the dance with you?" He asked. I took a drink.

"Because I diced to go, we'll Chris kind of talked me into going. But now I kind of need a date. We'll I don't need a date, but I would like one. Out of all the guys who have asked me, you're the only one who I would want to go with, besides Chris. But I really wouldn't be going with Chris, we're just friends. But we're just friends. I'm not making any, since, am I?" I asked him. He was just smiling at me.

"So, you play tackle football," I dropped my head on the table. He started laughing. I sat up and rolled my eyes.

"Yes, if you don't believe come over next weekend and play with us. Peter my little brother started it. Chris normal comes also and plays with the guys. I might wear heels to school, but that's not all I wear."

"And your family won't care if I come over, what if someone gets hurt?"

"We all get hurt a lot. It's not a big thing. I'll ask, but I don't think so." I said and thought about it. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him, if I was going to ask him to the dance.

"You've been hurt?" He asked, he was still haven't a hard time believe me.

"I haven't broken anything. But yes, I've been hurt. Nothing too bad, though. It's a fun time." I told him.

"I think I'm going to check this out. Not many people would believe you play tackle football. Do you still want to help me shop?" I nodded at him. We got up and throw everything away. I pulled out my phone and asked him to tell me a few things about his mom. Then I texted my mom and asked her what she thought he should get. She gave me a few chose. I handed the phone over to him.

"These are great idea." He said.

"My mom's a great shopper." I shrugged at him.

"Do you really want to go to the dance?" I looked up and saw he was watching me.

"Truthful no. These things, I always thought were boring. But this is our last year and I thought I should try it. If you say no, it's not going to break my heart or anything. I was just asking if you had a date or not." I told him.

"So, if I asked you again, would you say no again?" He asked again.

"No, why would you ask me again?"

"Because he's guys chose, guys do the asking. This isn't me asking also, but I will." He took my hand. I looked down at it and it didn't bother me.

"So, when is the dance?" He started laughing again.

"The week before Christmas break." We looked around for something his mom would like. We finely found it and I helped him buy it.

"You didn't have to do that." He told me.

"Get over it; it's no big thing for me. Any ways it was my mom." I said and handed him my phone again. He read the text. My mom told me that the ideas were a little over a teenager's price range and it was on her.

"I don't understand you at all." I smiled at him.

"Why because I just helped you get something for your mom. Sorry, that's just how I am. I get it from my dad. He's always saying money isn't important, people are."

"The people who say that are rich, I've seen the car you drive." I looked up at him again.

"It's not mine, it's my dad's. But I like it." He smiled at me.

"Was there an answer in there?"

"I don't think we're rich. But other people might," I pulled my phone out when it started ringing. It was my mom. I answered it.

"I'm late, aren't I?" I asked her.

"No, but dinner is going to be soon. You can bring your maybe date home with you." She told me. I looked up at Ricky and thought about it. "I'll deal with your dad." She added.

"What to come to dinner?" I asked him. He looked at his watch.

"I can't," I just smiled at nodded to him.

"I'll be home soon." I told her and hung up.

"Sorry,"

"Don't worry about it." He nodded and we walked outside. He asked me where my car was and walked me to it.

"This really is a sweet car."

"Thanks, it took me a lot of talking to get my dad to let me use it." He smiled at me. "I do have my own car, we'll I did have my own car. I bought it when I turned 16, but my dad didn't like it and he took it away. Him and the guys shoot and blow it up." He started laughing at me.

"They blow up your car."

"Yes, I told him until it died I would kept driving it. As soon as I said it I know I shouldn't have. That weekend, they loaded it up on a truck and drove it somewhere. I have pictures. I was mad."

"I'll have to see that some time. That's for coming and helping me. Thank your mom for me also." I nodded. I started pulling away, when he pulled on my hand and pulled me back to him. He kissed me. I was surprised, and then kissed him back. When we pulled back he smiled down at me.

"I'll talk to you later." He said and walked away. I got into the car and just sat there. Ricky just kissed me. I started the car and drove home. The guys were still here and so was Chris. I got out of the car and walked inside. Dinner was just being put on the table.

"Where did you go?" Chris asked me.

"The mall," I told him. Mom smiled at me and past me the food.

"What was so important at the mall?" He asked me after we were done passing around the food.

"Nothing I just wanted to go. What's with all the questions?" I asked back. He just looked at me. Then started eating. Mom tapped my leg, I looked over to her and she passed me her cell phone. It was a picture of me and Ricky, we were looking at each other and holding hands. It was a really good picture. I gave the phone back.

"Hector?" I asked her. She nodded at me and smiled. "I saw him when I first got there. Said something about wires?" I shrugged.

"There camera have been acting up. He's been there most of the week trying to find out what's the problem. If he can't find it soon, were just going to rewire everything." Dad told me.

"That sucks," He nodded. When dinner was, over I helped clean up.

"From the picture, it didn't look like a maybe lunch." Mom told me. I sat on the island.

"Hector doesn't like it. I'm surprised he took such a good picture." She turned and leaned against the counter.

"Sometimes a picture can say a lot more than what's really going on. This one dose." She told me.

"Yes, it doesn't, it's making me think and I didn't think I wanted something to think about." She came over and kissed me.

"That's what it's like to grow up, reminds me of a few pictures I've seen before." She winked at me and walked out of the kitchen. I sat there for a few minutes.

"What's on your mind baby?" I looked over and saw my dad leaning against the doorway. I just looked at him. He came over and hugged me. "Are you still mad at Chris?" I nodded against his chest.

"I'll get over it." I felt his chest shacking. He was laughing at me. I pulled back and saw he was smiling at me. I pulled away and walked away. I walked into my room and stopped, there on my bed was Chris.

"What was so important at the mall?" He asked me. I flopped down on the bed and laid back.

"Why do you want to know so much? How was the football game?" I asked him. When he didn't say anything, I looked over to him. He pulled up his shirt and showed me the brush that was forming.

"It was a good game though." I rolled my eyes. "Come on Julia why did you go to the mall?" He asked me again. My phone beeped, I pulled it out. Ricky texted me.

'Thank you, mom, my mom loved the gift.' I smiled.

"I was helping out someone buy a gift." I said.

'You're welcome, I thought her birthday was tomorrow?' I looked over to Chris.

"Why didn't you just say that, what if I wanted to go with you?" He asked.

"Chris, you hate going to the mall and in the middle of a game. Why would I ask you to go with me? I've tried for years to get you to go to the mall with me. I've stopped asking a long time ago." He thought about it.

"Really?"

"See this sweeter, I bought it two weeks ago, At the mall. When I started driving I stopped asking you to go with me." I shrugged.

'It is, but we're going out to dinner tonight.' Chris texted.

'Was it fun?'

"That's not cool, I want to go to the mall with you." I rolled my eyes again.

"When?"

"You're the only girl I know who doesn't care all about shopping. You got into the stores and play around. You're really cool, plus you always know what games not to get or what clothes I shouldn't get. I look this good because of you." I rolled my eyes again.

"That was my mom,"

'It was alright.' Ricky said.

'Was the food good?' I asked back.

"She was there, but you were always in the back ground and when you didn't like something you made a face. When I know, you did like something, I got it. Plus, I know my mom's happy because your mom's been buying all my clothes." I started laughing.

"I still remember when she took you with us. You couldn't believe that she was going to buy you clothes." He nodded.

"Why would anyone do that?" He said to me. That's what he said all those years ago,

"You got over it, didn't you? Next time do you want to go with me?" I asked him.

"I don't know I'm kind of put off with you right now. I don't think I want to go." I nodded and looked at the phone.

'Sure, but I'm with my family. How was your dinner.' He asked me.

'lots of food, people and talking. Normal day.' I texted back.

"Alright, that's fine. I didn't want to take you to the mall anyways. Did you get your homework done?" I asked him.

"Between getting out of school yesterday and now, sure Julia I got my homework done." I rolled my eyes.

"Go get your bag," I told him. He got up at once and went to get it. I grabbed my books and headed down stairs. I sat down in the living room and spread out my books.

'Is your family really that big?' He asked me.

'Kind of, the guys and Chris stayed over for dinner. Besides my parents, I have 6 brothers and sisters.' I told him. My phone started ringing.

"Hello." I said.

"6?" He asked me. It was Ricky.

"Yes 6, why's that so surprising?" Chris came back in the room.

"Who's that?" Chris asked and started pulling out his book. "Why are we here?" He asked.

"Guys are playing poker and there a movie going on. The last time we were in the kitchen you going get your mine off food and my bed isn't big enough for you." I told Chris.

"I don't think I should take that as I heard it." Ricky said.

"We're doing homework."

"Who's that?" Chris asked again. I rolled my eyes and got up.

"Get started and don't copy." I walked out and headed to my dad's office. "I mean it Chris," I yelled at him when I shut the door.

"Does he copy your work often?"

"Yes, has for years. Now why is it surprising about the size of my family?" I asked him.

"Is Chris always at your house?" He asked me.

"Most the time. Why?"

"Just wondering why, you guys are just friends. You're always together. I'm also surprised that you have a big family because I've never seen them. I know Peter." I nodded.

"Peter is 14, Sara is 12, Max is 9, Lily is 6, Steven is 5 and Emily is 3." I told him.

"Wow," He just said. "Wow,"

"Then Chris is over here all the time and a bunch of guys are always over."

"How old are your parents?"

"Mid 30's, there only a few months apart."

"They young, I should let you go. I have my own home work to do." I smiled.

"That might be a good idea. But I had fun today."

"So, did I, talk to you later." He said.

"Bye.' I hung up and went back into the living room. Chris was sitting in front of the fish tank. "Homework?" I asked him.

"Sure," He got up and sat down. We got to work and got a lot done. There were things he was really good at. But he hated to do it. I helped with the rest.

"Staying the night?" My mom asked, I looked behind her and saw most the lights off.

"Ya, it gets me out of going to church." He told her. She came over and kissed us.

"Don't stay up too late." She walked out and headed to bed.

"Want to stop?" He nodded and we got up. He headed to the room he used while he was here. I got into my room and changed. I lay down and started falling asleep. I needed a drink. I got back up and walked out. When I walked into the hall I saw Chris walk out of his room also. He was only in pants.

"Where you going?" I asked him.

"I needed a drink." I nodded and we walked back down to the kitchen. I grabbed a water and went right back to bed. I took a drink and fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Sunday went by like it was nothing. We did get out homework done thought. It was Monday morning and I was running around the house trying to get ready. Dad pulled me into the kitchen, put my back pack on my shoulder and handed me a breakfast shake.

"Thanks." He kissed my head and turned me to the garage. I ran to the car and got in. It was already started and warm for me. I pulled out of the garage and my phone rang.

"What?" I asked.

"Running late?" Chris asked me.

"Be there soon." I told him and hung up. Soon meant about 20 minute's throw town. I pulled in front of Chris's house and he walked out.

"Why is it your always late on Monday?"

"I don't know," I pulled into the school parking lot and parked. I looked over and saw he was drinking my shake. He smiled at me and got out. "That's mine," I said and followed him.

"Sure," I glared at him. He turned the cup and showed me what was written on it.

'Chris' It was in my mom's hand writing.

"Why do you get one and I don't there my parents." He put his arm on my shoulders.

"Because there are pineapples in it. Sorry it's all mine. Your parents love me." I rolled my eyes.

"I remember a time where my dad wanted to shoot you." He laughed at that and stopped in front of my locker. I put all my books in it and just grabbed the one I needed.

"Ya and he sat me down, gave me that look and told me that we will just be friends. After that he's liked me, anyways it's his rule never to let weapons in the house. Besides your mom." He told me.

"You're really took that to heart didn't you." I shut my locked and walked away from him.

"What was that look?" He asked when he caught up to me.

"Nothing, your locker is the other way."

"I know where my locker is, I've had the same stupid locker for three years. What was that looking for." He asked again. I stopped and looked up at him. As I opened my mouth the bell rang.

"Shit," I turned and ran to my class. I couldn't be late again. As I was running, I almost missed the door. But someone reached out and grabbed me. As they pulled my, I tripped and we both fell to the ground. I started getting up and saw Ricky, I just started laughing.

"Thanks." He smiled at me. I got up and gave him my hand.

"Maybe running isn't the brightest idea?" He told me.

"Really?" I rolled my eyes and walked over to my desk. He sat down behind me.

"Why are you always late on Monday?"

"I forget to set my alarm." I said as the second bell rang. Class got under way. When the bell rang, everyone got up.

"Everyone Monday?" I shrugged.

"You would think I would remember, but I never do. Normal my dad's the one who wakes me up. Then I have to find everything and this morning I couldn't find anything. Turns out he had it the whole time. I would be here sooner also, but I pick up Chris in the morning."

"Chris lives like a block away from me. Why do you pick him up?" I looked up at him. I didn't know that.

"I don't really know I just do. Most mornings if I'm running to late he shows up at my house. He didn't this morning." He stopped when I did at my locker.

"How much sooner would you get here if you didn't pick him up?"

"20 minutes. If she's not driving fast." Chris said leaning against the locker next to me.

"Where do you live?" Chris just smiled.

"In the bat cave, it's way cool man." Chris reached around me and grabbed one of his books.

"I don't live in the bat cave. Stop using my locker." I glared at him.

"She does, I use your locker when my classes are over here. Your history book is in mine anyway." He turned and walked away.

"I don't." I told Chris.

"Now I want to see your house." I nodded and closed my locker.

"Come over, it really isn't the bat cave. That's just what my mom calls it. Long story. I already invited you over, remember." We walked together to our next class.

"You know this is going to bug me all week."

"Come over today then if you want. See the house and see that it's not the bat cave." I told him.

So, that's what we did. I called my mom at lunch and told her I was bringing Ricky home with me. She told me she would take care of it. After school I walked to the car and saw Peter leaning against it.

"Missed the bus?" I asked him.

"It missed me, I was there standing waiting for it and it didn't show up." He got in the back seat and huffed.

"Sorry,"

"You know dad drove at my age, why can't I drive." I saw the parking lot empty and Ricky was waiting for me.

"Ya and he was sent to Roesa for stealing that car. I'm sorry, Peter. I told you I would drive you anytime."

"Ya that's cool getting a ride from my sister. I would rather ride the bus. If the thing ever gave me a ride."

"You go with us when Chris drives?" I told him.

"Ya he's not my sister." I looked back at him and saw he wasn't going to back down. I stopped at the end of the parking lot, pull the brake and got out. All three of the guys were looking at me. I walked around the car, opened the door and waved both of them out. Chris got out and just looked at me. I pushed him around the car, pushed Peter in the passenger seat and closed the door. Then caught my wallet and walked back to Ricky's car.

"What was that about?"

"Peter doesn't think it cool to get a ride from his sister." I told him and answered the phone.

"Not driving, Chris is." I told my dad.

"Your letting Chris drive my car?" He asked me. I pointed to Ricky where he needed to go. When he pulled into a gas station he didn't understand.

"Talk to Peter," I smiled and got out. Ricky got out with me and walked into the station.

"About why Chris is driving my car?"

"It's not cool to have your sister drive you home. So, Chris is driving. Talk to them not me. Love you bye." I said and hung up.

"How did he know?"

"My dad knows almost everything." I grabbed some drinks and asked him what he wants. He grabbed what he wanted and we went to the counter. I paid and we went back out to his car.

"Almost?"

"He doesn't know you're coming over." I smiled at him.

"So, I shouldn't come over?"

"No, my mom's cool with it. Just don't let my dad bother you." I told him. Then told him where to go. When he pulled in front of the gate, I leaned over him. Unrolled his window and pushed in the code. When I sat back down, he pulled forward. When the house came into view, he stopped.

"You really live in bat man's house." He said.

"No, I don't. You can park in front if you want." He pulled forward and parked. We got out and headed inside. Before I got to the door, it opened. Emily was standing there. She smiled up at me. I picked her up and gave her my wallet.

"Who brought you home?" I asked her.

"Who's he?" She asked me.

"Emily this is Ricky, Ricky this is my little sister Emily." She looked him over.

"I have a cousin Ricky," I put her down and let her run away.

"We really do have a cousin Ricky." I told him. He just smiled at me. We walked into the kitchen and I saw who brought the little kids home.

"Own I'm so staying for dinner." Les said to me. He put Lily down and took off his belt. He walked out of the room.

"I'm telling." Sara said.

"No, you're not." Les yelled back. I watched Bobby slip out of the room and do the same thing.

"I'm telling." Sara yelled and ran after them.

"So, what do you think of the bat cave?" Chris asked.

"What was that about?" Ricky asked everyone.

"There are a no weapons in the house rule. Dad remembers, but the guys don't always. Julia brought a guy home. They took everything off. Aren't you working?" Peter asked when they walked back in.

"No, we're on call. Good luck." Bobby said to me.

"I called mom." Les looked over to Bobby, then to me.

"Steph's in a huge meeting. Has been all day. Ranger should be home before dinner?" I nodded and knew that.

"Point?"

"Your dad will be home before your mom. Look what happened the last time you brought a boy home." Les said.

"He likes him, Chris spends the night all the time, he even drove dad's car. You guys can't even drive dad's car." I rolled my eyes, took the bag from Ricky grabbed out drinks and walked out.

"Why am I getting the felling your dad won't be happy?"

"Because when I was younger he hated that I was growing up. But he's the one who got me into boots. Came home from a business trip and with them." I told him.

"You haven't brought home a guy since you meet Chris?"

"Nope," I sat on the couch in the family room. He followed and just looked at me.

"Never."

"I only brought Chris home because we had to do a school project to do. Just happened that a big storm came and he was stock here all weekend. That's what started him staying over. He also stays over because he hates going to church."

"Your dad's cool with him staying over."

"Trust me man, he can put the fear of god into you. Not that, that's the reason I haven't dated Julia."

"You guys have never dated?"

"Were just friends." I said.

"We hang out a lot and do a lot of things together, but never really went on a date." Chris said thinking about it.

"Things we've done could count as I date but it wasn't. Max dates more than me." I told them.

"Max has been dating the same girl for five years. You really can't count that as dating, either our parents take them or her's." I told him.

"I'm been on most of their dates, I don't even think your dad could top them."

"Just because Max has dad pay for everything. Not a date." I said.

"Maybe he'll learn to not let me take his wallet. Mom does." Max said and turned on the TV.

"Ricky this is Max."

"Hey Ricky," Max said. Ricky looked at me. I shrugged.

"Have you even been on a date?" He asked me.

"No, is that a bad thing?"

"Why haven't you been on a date?"

"Why should I go on a date?" I asked back.

"Chris speed in my car again and I'll call your father." My said as he was walking into the room.

"I wasn't speeding." Chris said. My dad folded his arm and looked down at him. Then he says Ricky. He opened his mouth turned around and walked out of the room as he was taking off his belt.

"I'm telling." Sara ran after him. He caught her and walked out.

"That was my dad." I told Ricky.

"Dose everyone you know have a gun?" He asked everyone.

"Yes, they go in the garage. Dad gets really mad when everyone forgets." Max said.

"Why?" Ricky asked.

"Work," Everyone said at once. Dad walked back into the room.

"Did I make myself clear?" He asked Chris.

"Yes sir, no speeding." Chris said to him and nodded.

"Speed in Steph's car, not mine." Chris nodded, but didn't understand. What was going on. "Or call the control room and just have them."

"That's Ricky by the way." Chris said. He caught on. I smiled at my dad and waited for him to get back under control.

"Ricky's here because Chris told him we lived in bat man's house. Mom said it was cool." He was nodded along with me and looking Ricky over.

"That explains what she called me all those times."

"And why you get to explain why you never answered?" Everyone looked over and saw my mom leaning against the wall watching us.

"Babe," She turned and walked out. He looked back down at Ricky, and then followed her out.

"Mommy." Someone yelled.

"So, your dad scares the crap out of me."

"He does with everyone. You should have been here when Chris met him. It was funny. After Dad gets his words in, it's over. Suck it up and take it like a man." Max told him.

"What's he going to say?" Ricky leaned forward. He was taking advice from Max.

"He only has had that talk once and it was with Chris. Sara is only 12. It's bound to happen. Lily and Emily will be the worst. I bet they won't even try. Just take it. Chris took it, and he was speeding in his favor car." Max said.

"Why does he only care about your sisters?"

"He's a guy, anyways I'm the only one with a girlfriend. Plus, mom takes care of him when he starts to go. She lets him get in his say, and then he drops it." Max said and turned around.

"Why do you want to impress my dad so bad?" I asked him.

"I think it's more he just wants to live." Chris said, grabbed Emily who was hopping down the stairs and headed back up.

"Hey I need to tell everyone dinners ready." She said to him.

"Dinner." He yelled down the stairs. I grabbed Ricky and pulled him up the stairs.

"I think I'm."

"Remember be a man." Max said and pasted us.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad." I told him. We walked into the kitchen and sat down. Dad sat down after moving the rest of the food to the table. There wasn't much talk, everyone was waiting for dad to snap. I looked over to mom. She just smiled at me and took a drink of her wine.

When everyone was done, they got up and started taking their plates to the sink. I got up and did the same. Before I knew it, dad shut the door behind him. I looked over and saw he was walked over to the railing with Ricky.

"Don't worry," My mom said to me.

I stood there leaning against the island waiting. Five minutes, ten minutes, 20 minutes later my dad opened the door and walked in. He kissed my head and walked away. I looked back outside and Ricky was still there. I thought about it, then walked outside and leaned against the railing.

"Your dad's pretty cool." He told me.

"I know, he built this house for mom." He nodded and looked down at me.

"He really dose know everything, doesn't he?" I smiled.

"That's a skill I don't really like." He smiled at me. "I take it you took Max's advice and man up?" I asked him.

"Pretty much, but I have to pick between being your friend or boyfriend." He told me. I moved closer to him and looked up.

"Have you made up your mind?" I asked him.

"I was going to ask you, now that I know you and Chris were never together. I better make my move before the whole school knows." He leaned down and kissed me.

"I don't think I heard an answer anywhere in that?" We looked over and saw my dad standing there.

"I'm sure I shut the door,"

"Boyfriend." Ricky said to my dad. I looked up at him and saw him looking at me dad. Then I looked over to my dad. He was already walking back inside.

"I don't remember you asking me?" I told him. He just smiled at me.

"I was about to, your dad just made it very clear I could only be one. That was my pick. So, do you want to go out?" He asked me.

"Maybe?" I told him. He smiled even bigger and leaned down. I kissed him back.

"Maybe you'll meet me at Chris in the morning?" He asked me.

"I'll be there," He kiss me again. Took my hand and walked inside together.

"I'm heading home, do you want a ride?" He asked Chris. When we found him in the living room?

"Sure," He got up and put his stroll away. He grabbed his bag that was next to the door and walked outside. Ricky kissed me, said good night and shut the door behind him. I grabbed my bag and went into the kitchen. I sat down at the island and pulled out my homework.

"Can you listen?" My dad asked me. He was standing in front of me. I nodded, but didn't stop working. For the next 10 minutes, he went on to explain the rules of boyfriend's in the house. I signed the paper he handed me and he left.


	20. Chapter 20

I didn't know what I got myself into, till I woke up. I read over everything I just sign the night before and I was pissed off. I put the papers in my bag and walked back into my closet. I changed into a skirt and a tight shirt.

I put my boots back on and pulled on my jacket. I made sure I had everything and walked out of my room. Peter walked out of his room at the same time. He saw what I was wearing and just shook his head.

"Dad's never going to let you leave,"

"Try and stop me." I smiled back at him. We walked into the kitchen and I filled up a travel mug of coffee. Mom handed me a breakfast shake. "Do you want a ride?" I asked Peter. He thought about it and finely nodded. Mom handed him his shake and kissed us.

"Thanks." We walked into the garage and got into the car.

"You're lucky," Peter told me.

"Even if he saw me I would have still left wearing this." I pulled out of the garage and headed to Chris. I parked in front of his house. When the door didn't open, I hocked the horn and grabbed my bag.

"Where are, you going?" Peter asked.

"It's not cool remember, Chris will drive you to school." He just looked at me as I got out. I held the door for Chris. Then walked over to Ricky, his couldn't take his eyes off me as I walked over. When I got to his car, he walked me around and opened my door.

"What was that for?" I asked him.

"Felt like it," I gave him a look, rolled my eyes and got in the car. He shut the door and walked around.

"Dose that felling have anything to do with what I'm wearing?" I asked him when he got on the road.

"No, why?" I folded my legs and watched him. He was watching me and swallowed. I rolled my eyes again. Guys. He pulled in next to Chris and we got out.

"Your dad told me I couldn't drive anymore."

"My dad also spends 20 minute's giving the rules on boyfriend's and waited till I wasn't paying action to sign the mono. Drive all you like." I said and walked around the car. Chris stopped when he saw me.

"He let you out of the house?"

"Wasn't there," Peter said and walked away from us. I took my coffee, and followed him.

"What are these rules?" Ricky asked when he caught up with me. I pulled out the papers and gave it to him. He put his arm around me as he read over everything. "You signed this?"

"I told you he waited till I wasn't paying action. I read it this morning, I'm really not happy with it." Chris took the paper and read over them. He was laughing his ass off by the time he was done.

"This isn't your signature." He said and gave it back. I looked at it. Then noticed what he was talking about. I looked at him thinking about it. Then remember what I did. "So, you played your dad."

"I guess I did," I put the papers back in my bag and changed my books around. When I was done, I took Chris books and put them away. I closed the locked and looked at them. They were watching everyone.

"What's up?" I asked them.

"I think they noticed," Chris said, and walked away. I looked up at Ricky and noticed.

"Everyone thinks you two are dating." He told me.

"Why would they think that?" I asked.

"Because you both act like it." He took my coffee and started taking a drink.

"It's black and really strong." I told him. He raised an eye brow and took a drink. I watched him hand the cup back and swallowed. "Told you." I took the cup back and took a drink.

"That's really strong."

"Told you,"

"Back to why everyone thinks you two are dating. You brought him a drink."

"My dad makes them in the morning. It has pineapples in it and I can't eat them. So, Chris drinks them for me."

"Why can't you drink them?"

"I'm kind of allergic to them. He was there when we found out. There not always with pineapples, but my mom just bought some for thanksgiving. He's using them up, I'll bring you one tomorrow if you want one." I told him.

"So, these rules?"

"Sucks," He leaned down and kissed me. We walked to class and sat down. "I think our school is high." I told him.

"You're wearing a really short skirt." Ricky told me.

"I'm covered," I turned back and looked at him. I watched his eyes move down to my legs.

"Really short." He just said. I waved my hand in front of his face and waited. "You always wear pants." I rolled my eyes and faced forward.

The rest of the day I caught almost everyone watching me. After school Peter was leaning against the car waiting for us. Chris took the keys from me and got in the car.

"If you speed, I won't take the fall." Chris just waved and got in the car. Ricky took my hand and walked me over to his car. "Are you driving me home?" I asked him.

"How else would you get home?" He asked me.

"One phone call and I could have a ride, want to see?" I asked him and was smiling. He just looked at me. I pulled out my phone and called the control room.

"Rangerman?"

"I need a ride," I said to them. The line went dead and I put the phone back. He lifted me up on the trunk. I pulled him in front of me and leaned against him.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"Just wait, so do you want to give me a ride home?" I asked him.

"Sure, but I need to get my homework done." He told me.

"So, do I," I smiled at him and pointed to the black SUV. It stopped in front of me and Pickson and Dates got out.

"Ricky this is Pickson and Date's. Thanks for something up so fast." I waved to them and Ricky helped me down. They shook hands with Ricky and Dates helped me into the car. Ricky got in and wasn't so sure about things.

"They showed up just because you called?" He asked.

"Yes,"

"That's cool," He drove to my house and again I leaned over him to push in the code. "You know you could have gave it to me." I looked over at him.

"Where's the fun in that." I kissed him and sat back down. He pulled forward and parked in front of the house. He grabbed my bag and we walked inside. I left them in the kitchen and headed up to my room.

After changing into comfy clothes, I pulled my hair up and headed back down stairs. I sat down with them and spread out my books with them. Even Peter was working with us. When Sara came home she grabbed a drink and sat down at the island.

"What's bumming you out?" Peter asked her. She healed up a pair of shoes.

"It started rain and this jerk though it would be funny to puddle jump." She said. Her bright yellow shows were covered in mud.

"Then, what did you do?" He asked her. She turned around and was smiling.

"Pushed him into that puddle." We all just looked at her. She just shrugged at us. "I got on the bus, he ruined my shoes. He's lucky that's all I did to him."

"Can't you wash them out?" Ricky asked her. She thought about it.

"Maybe, but that's not the point." She turned back around and went back to her homework.

"Sara has a think with her shoes." Chris said.

"Do not." Sara said.

"How many pairs of shoes do you have? You have more shoes then you would even know what to do with. She has a thing for her shoes." Peter said.

"She doesn't have a thing for her shoes, she just likes them. Stop picking on her." I told him. He shook his head and went back to his work. I got up and walked over to her. She was upset, I grabbed her shoes and tights. They were covered in mud. She took my hand and walked out with me. I dropped them off in the laundry room and headed up to her room.

"Do you have another pair that matches what you're wearing." She thought about it, then opened her closet and grabbed a pair of new tights. As she was putting them on I sat a pair of her yellow slippers down in front of her. She was smiling finely.

"I just like them." She said.

"Don't worry, I have a thing for my boots also." She smiled up at me and hopped back to the kitchen. I followed behind her took my note book out of Chris hand and sat back down.

"How did you get that answer?" He asked me. For the next five minutes, we went over the problem, when he got the answer himself he wrote that down.

"You're a math wiz." Ricky said.

"Sure, I'm almost flunking out. The only reason I'm not is because Julia." Chris said.

"I just sat here and watched you do all that in your head. She wasn't helping you at all. You're a math wiz." I watched Chris and take everything in.

"So, I add things in my head," Chris just shrugged and went back to his work. Ricky looked at me. I shrugged and went back to my work. When I was stuck, I would ask Chris and he would give me the answer. Peter and Sara did the same thing. Ricky just watched us.

Max finely walked into the kitchen with Anne. He got her a drink and pulled out her chair.

"Ricky this is Anne." I told him. He just smiled and went back to his work. I moved on when I was done.

Mom came in with the younger kids. She grabbed a box of popsicles and handed them to Steven. He walked around passing them out. Then throw the box away and walked away. She started making dinner. When the phone rang, she answered it.

Everyone was watching her. As she was talking she turned and looked at Sara. Then leaned over and looked at her shoes. Sara was in trouble. I watched Peter and Chris grab their things and leave. They grabbed Ricky as they left.

"You pushed a boy into a mud puddle?" Mom asked her.

"He jumped in it and splashed me. I just pushed him and he fell into it." Mom folded here arms and didn't believe her. Sara got off her stool and ran out to get them. She walked back in and showed her.

"Alright, I'll get these cleaned. But tomorrow you have to say you're sorry to Danny." Sara stomped her foot.

"No, he's always mean to me." I grabbed both mine and Ricky's book and went to find them.

"Maybe he likes you." Mom told her.

"And maybe I would like to stomp on him." Sara said. I found them in the family room. I sat down his books and headed upstairs. I turned on some music and went back to my homework.

"How doesn't Chris fit on your bed?" I looked up and saw Ricky standing in my doorway.

"Because he takes over the bed." I told him.

"Could it be that you don't like to share?" He asked and came over and sat down.

"Maybe,"

"How long has Chris been a math wiz?" He asked.

"He always has been. He just doesn't like doing the work. Why do you think I keep him around? I hate math." He laughed at me.

"You're smart, beautiful and fun to be around. Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

"I thought I did?"

"No I mean why didn't you have one?" He asked me.

"No one's asked me. Sure, guys always ask me to go to the dances and things. But no one's really asked me." I told him.

"Have you asked anyone?"

"I texted you," He raised an eye brow. "So, I got a dress for the dance and I wanted someone to go with. Chris is taking Cindy, so I needed to find someone else."

"Can I see the dress?" I moved the book off my lap and got up. I walked into my closet and found the dress. I pulled it out of the bag and showed him.

"I saw it and liked it." I told him.

"Why did you pick me?" He asked. I put the dress back.

"Your taller them me." I said. When I walked back out he was sitting on the bed just looking at me. "Maybe I liked you also. As I was thinking about someone to ask, you were the only person I could think of." I added.

"I am taller them you." He got up and walked over to me. Without my boots, he was taller than me. He noticed and smiled. "Much taller."

"That's a really nice plus." He put his arms around me and leaned down.

"Why taller, why is that something you like?" He asked me. Then kissed me.

"You really want to know?" I asked him. He nodded and kissed me again. "Pick me up," I told him. He pulled back and gave me a look. I just waited. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around him. "That's why." I told him and we were at the same height.

"You called me because I was taller than you?"

"No I called because I liked you, but you being taller than me is a plus." I leaned forward and kissed him. When I pulled back, he let me down.

"Then why did you always say no when I asked you out?" I moved and sat back down.

"Because you only asked me out to things I really didn't want to go to. You never just asked me out." I told him. He opened his mouth, then closed it and thought about it.

"Really?"

"Really, when I texted you. You kind of asked me out. But it was fun."

"That's all it would have taken. Me to just ask you out?"

"Sure, like I said. Guys at school only ask me out to go to the dances and things like that. I never thought they would be fun. Then Chris started talking about it and I found the dress." I shrugged. I didn't want to tell him that I got the dress to go with Chris.

"Chris should have told me that." I looked at him. He looked at me and I could see he didn't mean to say that.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing just forget I said anything. It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing if you don't want to tell me about it. What does Chris have to do with anything?" I asked him again.

"Before you know anything, I would have come and talked to you Monday. Chris kind of made sure you wanted to go to the dance and was going to make sure I got the chance to ask you. I also kind of got Chris the date with Cindy. It's just you always say no."

"So, you got with my best friend and played me to go to a dance with you?"

"No, not really." I got up, grabbed his hand and pulled him out of my room. I opened the front door and pushed him out. I slammed the door in his face and went to find Chris. He was playing video games with Peter. I turned off the TV, grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him with me also. I pushed him out and slammed the door in his face also.

"What was that about?" My dad asked me, when I past. I walked back a few steps and saw him sitting at his desk.

"You know, didn't you?" I asked him.

"What baby?"

"All men are the same." I yelled at him and stormed off. I slammed my bedroom door behind me and went back to my homework. Someone knocked on my door and walked in. Mom shut the door behind her and sat on the bed.

"What's wrong honey?" She asked.

"I hate guys."

"Can I ask why?"

"Chris and Ricky planned out how they could get me to go to the dance with Ricky. Dad knew about it and didn't tell me." She smiled at me.

"Honey I'm not seeing the down side, I thought you liked Ricky?"

"I did, but why couldn't he just ask me out. Why did he have to use Chris? Why did Chris have to help. I really thought he keep talking about the dance because he wanted to go together. Then he told me he was taking Cindy and I found out Ricky set that up. This was a bunch of lies and crap." She just looked at me.

"From what I remember you were the one who called Ricky, and I was the one to push you to ask someone. That part wasn't a set up." She told me.

"Can't I be mad at them for a while?" She leaned forwards and kissed my head.

"If you want, I just want to make sure you were alright. Are you coming down for dinner?" I nodded and followed her down. I didn't say anything while I was eating. When I was done, I cleaned up after myself and went back to my room.

My alarm went off and I got up. I got into the shower. It was hot and I stood there. After I washed, I got out and wrapped up in a towel. After putting on my make-up and doing my hair, I walked out and saw a dress on my bed.

My mom was the best. I pulled on the red underwear that was on the bed. Then the red dress. There was a black belt that went with it. I started pulling on my boots when I saw a pair of black heals. They were hers and they were taller than what I normal wore.

I put everything in my bag and walked out. Peter was the only one in the kitchen.

"Dad's going to kill you." He told me.

"Don't really care," I told him and filled up my coffee. I waited till he was done eating. Together we walked to the garage. The car was already on getting warmed up. I opened the door and saw a pair of my jeans with a note.

'Your dad will be home early,' I smiled and moved them into the back seat. I didn't say anything to him and drove right to the school. I parked down the street.

"Sorry it's not cool I gave you the ride."

"It's fine, just drive." I put the car back into gear and drove to the school. I parked and he got out. I reached back and grabbed my bag. Then opened my door and stepped out. There were a few wishes, I shut the door with my hip and walked into the school.

I stopped by my locker, and then walked to class. I sat down, opened my not book and started drawing.

"You're mad at me?" Ricky asked, I looked behind me and saw him sitting there. I didn't answer, went back to my picture. "Can you give me a hint, how long you're going to be mad at me?" He asked me. I looked back at him again.

"Go ask Chris." His head dropped onto his desk. I turned forward again.

The bells rang and class was started. When the next bell rang, I got up and walked out.

"Julia," I opened my locker and Ricky leaned against the lockers next to mine. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." He told me.

"Cool." I shut the locker and walked to my next class. I watched Chris stopped Ricky from following me. Everything was good until lunch. Both Chris and Ricky sat down next to me.

"Still mad?" Chris asked. I didn't even answer him. He nodded and started talking to Ricky. When lunch was, over I stopped at my locker, got my things and headed to my car. Peter was waiting for me. He got in, I grabbed the pants and took off my shoes. I slipped them on and put the shoes back on.

"So, you don't care?" Peter asked when I got back in.

"I do, but don't." He nodded and understood. I drove home and parked in the garage.

"Are you going to stay mad at Chris for long?" He asked as we walked into the house.

"I'm trying to, but I don't think I will." He nodded and headed up the stairs. I walked into the kitchen and saw my dad.

"You and Steph should have never got together. The dress looked better without the pants." He said to me. I got a drink and leaned against the island.

"Who told you?"

"No one had to tell me. I was there when you bought the dress."

"Are you trying to get on my good side?" I asked him. He smiled at me and leaned against the counter.

"I might," I smiled at him.

"Work harder," I walked out and headed up to my room. For some reason, all my teacher thought they should up lode us with homework. I dropped everything on my bed and changed. I was pulling up my hair as I walked out of my bedroom. Sara and dad were in the kitchen. I leaned against the counter.

"Why are you cooking so early?" I asked him.

"It has to cook in the over for hours." Sara told me.

"For the hours, want to go for a run with me?" I asked dad. He looked back at me and raised an eye brow. When he saw that I've changed he nodded. I walked outside and sat on one of the chairs there were out there waiting for him. When he came out he handed me a sweeter and helped me up.

We really didn't run, mostly jogged.

"How did you know?" I asked him.

"Baby I never worried about Chris because he really is just your best friend. He came to me and asked if I would care if you went to a dance. I'm surprised you haven't yet."

"I haven't wanted to go to a dance. It's not something I really wanted to do. Then Chris started talking it up and I really thought we would go. Then he told me he was going with Cindy."

"Why did that upset you so much?"

"Because I wasn't ready for him to just be my best friend. I guess it took me having feeling for someone to know that he really is just my friend."

"Why are you mad baby?"

"They had to play me, couldn't someone just come and ask me." He nodded and understood where I was coming from now.

"Baby from outside it doesn't look like your friends. Before I finely came forward with me felling to Steph it was hard for me to except her being around the guys. You're in high school, guys aren't really smart." We laughed together.

"You know I just wanted a guy to ask me," I told him. He pulled us to a stop and hugged me.

"Give him the chance, he went to Chris because he wanted to ask."

"No, he wanted to ask me to the stupid dance." He kissed my head.

"From what I got baby, he would rather have you as his girlfriend then go to the dance." I looked up at him and saw he meant it.

"Why are you being so good about this?"

"Baby," I just looked up at him and waited for him to answer. "I'm not good with this, but your 18 and growing up. I guess I should just be happy that you waited this long. He seems like a nice kid, he also makes you happy. I saw your face in the picture." He told me.

"I'm going to stay mad at him forever long I want."

"Steph already told me that." We started jogging again. "What about Chris?"

"Same." He laughed at that. We got back to the house, Mom was in the garage grabbing some bags. Dad moved over and took them from her. I watched her grabbed different ones and walked in. I grabbed some and followed them.


	21. Chapter 21

Thanksgiving was filled with food, family and a whole lot of crazy. But I did have fun, I also missed Chris. I was sitting outside wrapped up in a blanket, watching the snow come down. The door opened and I looked over. Chris shut the door behind him and came over. I moved over for him to sit down with me.

"I missed you." I told him. He put his arm behind me.

"I'm with your family more than mine, aren't I?" I nodded at him. "Still mad at me?" I looked over to him and shook my head no.

"Why did you do it?"

"Julia I've seen you turn down almost every guy in school for the last few years. I didn't think much of it, because I didn't want to go. Ricky came to me and asked if he could take you to the dance. That throw me. I guess I haven't noticed everyone things were dating. I know you like him, so I helped." I looked up at him.

"Why did that throw you?"

"Julia you're my best friend."

"You never thought about us being anything else?" He looked away from me.

"Maybe I should have come forward a long time ago." He told me. I looked at him. "Julia I never thought about it because I'm gay." I looked his face over and leaned against his chest. He put pulled me to him.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you're my best friend. Why are you taking Cindy to the dance then?" I asked him.

"So, there wasn't a way for me to take you. You know I would in a second. Ricky has liked you for a while, and then I saw you started liking him also. We didn't play you." He told me.

"You would have, I just jumped the gun."

"No, we wouldn't have. I talked the dance up to you and made sure you couldn't go with me. I'm sure most the guys would have asked you Monday if you didn't end up handing out with Chris. Why were you made Friday?"

"You asked Cindy and not me to the dance. Now I understand everything." He looked down at me.

"Now I'm taking Cindy to the dance." I started laughing.

"Did you talk to Ricky for me?"

"I told him to give you time. That dress didn't help anyone. He's waited years to get a chance with you. A few days of you being mad shouldn't be anything." I nodded and watched the snow come down even harder.

"Are you staying the night?"

"You think I drove all the way here to sit in the cold with you. Yes, I'm staying the night."

"Good you can help me with my math. I love the snow." I told him.

"As long as you're not in it, Julia you hate the snow."

"Ah shut up," When I started getting cold, he got up and pulled me inside. I got ready for bed and fell asleep.

I woke up and walked into Chris's room. He wasn't there, it didn't even look like he slept here. I swear he stayed the night. I checked the other rooms and opened Peter's door be mistake. There he was sleeping with Peter. I covered my mouth. Someone put their arm around me, pulled me out and shut the door.

"He's not ready for us to know." Dad said softly in my ear. We walked down stairs, I sat at the island. He sat a cup in front of me.

"You know?"

"Baby I know everything that happens in my house." I leaned forward and leaned against the island.

"I should know,"

"Baby give them time. That's a new thing." He nodded upstairs.

"How long have you known?" He looked at me and thought about telling me.

"Julia you're a beautiful woman, and when someone doesn't notice. That's noticeable; I talked to him about it when I did. Peter isn't ready to talk about it, if he has felling for someone I'm not going to stop him." I nodded and was understand a lot of things now.

"Hey why dose he not have to follow boyfriend rules."

"Who do you think I should worry about first? You who makes out with her boyfriend in her room or Peter who's trying to understand his sexily and just sleeping with his boyfriend? I trust Chris, just met Ricky." I nodded at him.

"You're really alright with that and me?"

"I've watch some really close friends have to go throw things like that. I'm not one to judge anyone on anything. I've fucked up a lot in my life to do that. But I do get a little over board with my daughters." I nodded and know that already.

"So if it wasn't for the fact that I made out with Ricky in my room would that rule change?" He folded his arms.

"No, but your too much like Steph and I. You're very open about your sexuality. I'm working on getting used to it. Give me some time." I smiled at him.

"We'll you be alright with Ricky coming over?"

"That's never been the problem. I've never wanted to stand in your way."

"You never have dad, the only times guys ask me out is to a dance or something like that. I've never really wanted to go to something like that. Like you said, guys are stupid." He leaned over and kissed me.

"He can come over whenever. I just don't want to find him in your bed." I raised an eye brow. "Naked in your bed." I nodded and kissed him back.

"I think I can live with that. Thanks for stopping me up there." He nodded and opened the fridge.

"Are you finely going to stop being mad?" He asked me.

"Turns out I missed Chris. He's always here for thanksgiving. I also feel bad for how I treated Ricky. I've never been in a relationship, I don't think I'm very good at them."

"Honey no one's good at them at first. Go show him you're sorry, bring him over or go out and have a fun time." Mom said when she came into the kitchen.

"Like what?"

"The guys are going to be over later playing in the snow. Watch a movie. Or go out and have a fun day. Movies, dinner, I'm sure you two will be able to find something." She kissed my head and took the coffee cup that was handed to her.

"If your go out take the truck." Dad said as he went back to the stove. I got up and looked out the window. There was a lot of snow on the ground.

"I will so take the truck." I told them. I refilled my coffee and headed back up to my room. I got into the shower. When I got out, Chris was sitting on my bed waiting for me.

"I know I should have told you." He said.

"It's fine," I walked into the closet.

"It's not, I should have told you. It's just not something he wants people to know about?"

"Chris really I'm fine with it. Dad helped me understand. I really get it and I'm fine with it. It was surprising, I just don't know if I want to share you." He laughed at me.

"Have you had to?"

"What does that mean?" I pulled up a pair of pants and walked back out of the closet.

"That isn't a new thing, what's between us isn't a new thing." I thought about it.

"So it's like a behind closed doors?"

"Yes, you've shared so far." I nodded and walked back into the closet and found a sweater. I grabbed my winter boots and pulled them on. He laced them up for me.

"I'll share, but you're my best friend first. But if you hurt my brother I'll hurt you." I said, leaned forward and hugged him.

"I won't."

"Good, now where dose Ricky live." He took my phone and put in the address. I thanked him and walked downstairs with him. I sat down with everyone and eat breakfast. Dad gave me the keys and kissed my head. I went back up to my room, grabbed my wallet and pulled on my coat.

I got into the truck and pulled out. I followed Chris dictions and parked across the street from Ricky's house. I called him and waited for him to wake up.

"Julia?" He asked.

"Did I wake you up?" I asked him.

"Maybe, what's up?" He asked.

"Maybe I'm outside." I heard him moving. As he opened the front door I got out of the truck. "You should have put clothes on." I told him. He stepped back into the house and put some shoes on. I leaned against the truck waited for him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me.

"Should I leave?" He moved next to me, leaned down and kissed me.

"Give me a few minutes," He opened my door for me and helped me back into the truck. I listened to music as I waited for him. I didn't even notice him walk around the truck. He opened the door and got in.

"You understand that?" He asked. I turned the volume down.

"Ya,"

"Can you speck it?"

[Yes I can. It's part of who I am.] I said. He leaned over, pulled me to him and kissed me.

"That's sexy, what did you say?"

"That I can and it's who I am." He kissed me again.

"Very sexy," I smiled at him.

"Want to do anything?" I asked him. I really didn't know what to do anymore. He smiled back at me.

"You don't have anything planed in that mind of yours?"

"We'll the guys are coming over to play in the snow. Or we could go do something?" I shrugged.

"What do you mean play in the snow?"

"Snowmobiles, snow ball fights and things like that." His eyes light up. I pulled away from the street and headed home.

"Wait what would you want to do?"

"I don't care," He didn't believe me. When I pulled throw the gate I saw Lester and Tank were already here. I pulled into the garage and turned off the truck. We got out and headed inside.

"Your dad left some for you." Mom said and nodded outside when she heard us walk in. I looked out the window.

"He opened the shade?" I asked her.

"And the back gate. Are you going to come?" Chris asked me. I looked over to him and saw he was in his snow clothes.

"Your close to Chris size, I'm sure he'll have something you can wear." Mom told Ricky. Chris nodded for Ricky to follow him. "Are you going to go out?" My mom asked me. I thought about it.

"Ya," She smiled at me, I turned and followed them up the stairs. I pulled off my boots and clothes. I changed underwear and pulled on a sports bar. I got thicker socks on. Then started putting on my snow pants.

They were white on white. I tucked in my under armor and walked out. In the mud room Chris was giving Ricky a jacket. I pulled on my boots and jacket. I grabbed my hate, gloves and goggles. I walked back into the kitchen and leaned against the bar.

"Are the kat's out?"

"Yes, but I don't think they left the gate. I'll put a lunch together and your dad when it's ready."

"You're not coming out?"

"No, I'm on kid watch." She smiled at me. "And getting a little work done." I nodded and kissed her check. Chris stopped in front of me and let me jump on his back.

"I don't like snow in my boots." I told Ricky as he gave us a look. They opened the door and we headed out. Peter was waiting for us. Both of them went into a short lesson about how to drive. Chris sat me on my feet on mine. I turned it on, turned on the GPS that was there and checked out where everyone was. Chris and Peter took off. I looked over to Ricky.

"Why did you do this if you don't like the snow?" He asked me.

"I like the snow, why would you think I didn't?" He looked at me.

"You haven't touched it yet," I rolled my eyes, I pulled on my goggles and took off. I looked back and saw he was following me. We played around the house then meet up with Chris and Peter at the gate. I parked my snowmobile next to Sara's and waved Ricky over. I grabbed the GPS and hopped over to him. I put it in front and put my arms around him.

They took off.

"Why are you riding with me?" He asked.

"I don't take mine past the gate, you'll see." I told him. We rode around for hours playing. We did meet up with most the people. I heard the GPS going off and I told Ricky to stop. He stopped next to Chris and Peter.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone's lost or lunch is ready." Peter said and leaned against his handle bars. "This sucks." We all just sat there and waited. Finely we heard something and looked around. We all thought it would be dad, but Tank showed up. He was heading towards the house.

"We really need to get these updated." He smiled at me.

"Talk to Hector and you mom. Ranger and Lisa stayed close to the house with the younger kids. Everyone else is heading this way." He said and took off. We followed behind him. We stopped in front of the porch. Ricky got off and gave me a piggy back ride inside.

"Stop," Mom yelled at everyone. "Mud room." We all back up and walked back outside.

"Post a sign on the door." Peter told her. I told Ricky to let me down. He did and I got on the railing. I started walking along it and someone pushed me. When I opened my eyes I was laying in the snow.

"You are so dead," I glared at Peter. He smiled and ran off around the house. I took someone's hand and let them pull me up. I took off my coat and handed it to Ricky. Then I walked to the back door and pulled off my boats. He took those. I winked at him and ran throw the house. I slipped on my old boots and ran out the garage door. Peter was standing on the corner waiting for me. I tacked him from behind. We rolled around in the snow fighting with each other.

Out of nowhere someone picked me up and just walked away. I looked up and saw my dad.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him.

"You're covered in snow," He said like that made me understand everything.

"He started it?" My dad gave me a look. "Well he did, up please." He put his arm under my legs and lifted me higher and held me right. He didn't put me down in the mud room. Slipped off his boots and walked me all the way up to my room. He sat me on my feet in my tub.

"Dry clothes." He said and walked out. I did what he said and changed into dry clothes. I slipped on a pair of slipped and headed back down stairs. Mom put together a hug hot lunch. The guys and younger kids were in the dining room. I sat down between Ricky and Chris.

"Sorry," Peter said.

"Don't be it was all in good fun." I said to him. He looked up at me. I smiled at him, he looked behind him, dad nodded to him. Just like that it was over. It started snowing as we were eating. When the guys were done they were all ready to go back out. Ricky followed then stopped and looked back at me. I waved him out. After I cleaned up after us. I headed down and started a movie.

"How's your movie?" Ricky asked me and put his arm behind me. I looked over at him and saw he's changed back into his clothes.

"It's ok. How was the snow?"

"Your dad is cool. Why'd he break you and Peter up, but let everyone else fight?"

"I told you I don't like snow in my boots. If I was in my coat he wouldn't have." He nodded.

"Plus if she gets sick dad gets into trouble." Peter said. I gave him the remote. He looked at me, got up and picked a new movie.

"Why?"

"That's just how it is." Peter shrugged. Ricky just looked at me.

"If anyone gets sick mom blames dad and the guys. They're the ones who's in charge of us outside. The first really big storm that hit, the guys showed up and wanted to play out in the snow. Sara got sick and mom was mad at the guys for a while. After that they watch us."

"Sick how?"

"Just a cold, we were out most the weekend." I told him. He nodded, and kind of understood. Sara came down to see what movie was on, made a face and headed back upstairs.

"What was that about?" Chris asked us.

"She doesn't like this movie," I told him.

"We don't have to watch it." Peter looked at me for help.

"She's already moved on." I told them. I turned around and grabbed a blanket. I covered up and leaned against Ricky. When the movie was almost over, Sara came back down stairs. She sat on the side of the couch waiting. Then the guys came down. They sat down at the poker table, dealt out cards and grabbed some beers.

"Can we play a game?" She asked Peter. He turned off the movie and waited for her. We all took turned playing. Lisa came down and gave Tank Marcus.

It was fun, when one game got boring we moved onto the next one.

"Dinner," Emily yelled running down the stairs and to dad. "Daddy dinner." He pulled her up on his lap.

"We heard you sweetie, we're almost done with this hand." She moved and framed his face with her hands.

"Mommy said now," He kissed her head. Sara turned off the game and headed up. I followed behind her.

"Wow," Sara said when she saw the snow coming down. I moved behind her and watched the snow coming down.

"How bad is it?" I asked mom.

"Not so bad, just a light snow." I nodded and helped her move the food to the tables. As I was helping Steven in his booster everyone else showed up.

I sat down and started dicing up my plate. As Chris and Peter sat down, the phone rang. Sara was the closet and picked it up.

"Monoco's resident," She said. She listened and pasted the phone to Chris.

"Hello?" He did some nodded also. "Ya I understand. Hold on." He got up, walked over to dad and gave him the phone. He stood there waiting. I turned and watched. Dad looked up at him and was listening. Then got up and walked Chris out with him.

"Julia?" Mom asked me. I just shrugged and didn't understand what was going on. Everyone went back to their food. But I was worried. I watched the doorway and waiting for Chris to come back. My dad showed up and nodded for me to follow. I pushed my chair back and walked out with him. He walked me into the office. I sat down next to Chris.

"Did you know Chris was grounded?" My dad asked me. I looked at Chris.

"My dad show my grades," He told me.

"How bad were they?" He looked at me dad.

"I also didn't say I was leaving last night and didn't call my dad today saying where I was."

"How bad were your grades?" I asked him again.

"So I got a few D, what's the big deal. I understand there mad that I didn't tell them where I was. But what's the big deal." I said.

"D's, I know you hate doing the work but you always do you work with me. How are you getting D's." He still wasn't looking at me. Just my dad, I looked over to my dad and he was wearing his blank face. "There's more, what is it?"

"My dad's getting remarried. He dropped it on my yesterday. When I got home Wednesday he was holding my grades and told me I was grounded. But I think he just wanted a reason where I had to stay home for thanksgiving. Just like that, everyone sat down and he told me." Chris said.

"What?"

"I've known that he was dating this woman, that's why he never cared that I was over here all the time." Chris said and got up. "Do you know they planned the whole stupid wedding and he just told me yesterday? So why should I care if I didn't tell him where I was. Fuck him." Chris stopped pacing and headed to the door.

"Chris," Dad said. Chris stopped and waited. "He's still your father and he was worried about you."

"Fine, I'll go home." Chris opened the door and walked out. I looked at my dad and he was smiling. What was that about. It took a few minutes and Chris was back. "I'm not going home." He said and sat down.

"Why?"

"The snow is really coming down." I looked at him to my dad. So he knows that already.

"I'm lost." I told them.

"I just wanted to know if you knew Chris was grounded. The rest was up to him to tell you. Now we're going to move on. I can take Ricky home. But the storm that's over us is really bad. I'll call his parents and tell them he'll be staying over here. But you have to behave." My dad told me.

"You can call, but there not home." We looked at Chris. He shut his mouth and walked out. I got up and followed him.

"What did that mean?" Chris sat down at the table and started eating. I watched dad come in and go and sit back down.

"What was that about?" Ricky asked me.

"Chris is being stupid." I told him. When I was done Ricky got up with me and washed off his plate also. I took his hand and pulled him with me up to my room.

"How is he behind stupid?" He asked.

"Chris dad saw his grads and grounded him. Then he came over here." I told him. I turned on my computer and handed him my movies. He picked one and I put it in. Then I moved onto the bed. He moved and pulled me against him.

"I don't understand, I've watched him do his homework. How bad could his grades be?"

"Try D's." He looked down at me. "Chris doesn't like to pay action. He'll do his homework with me, but that doesn't mean he'll hand it in. Or do anything in class." He just looked at me.

"Why, doesn't he want to get into college?"

"No he doesn't. Never really planned on it. Why are you talking about me?" Chris asked. He grabbed my desk chair and sat down.

"Because your tanking classes and are smarter than that. We've both been grounded and done what we wanted to. That's nothing, why are you taking classes?" He looked over at me.

"Who said anything about taking classes?" He asked me.

"You really want to take that road?" I asked him. He thought about it, got up and walked out of the room. Shut the door behind him and everything. He really didn't want to talk about it.

"That way was easier." Ricky told me. I nodded and went back to watching the movie. My eyes started getting heavy.

"She just fell asleep," I heard Ricky say.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, the snows coming down pretty hard. I can take you home, but it will be a long drive." Was that my dad?

"But you would rather not?" Ricky said.

"Yes, I don't want your parents worry though." I felt Ricky move.

"They won't,"

"Will you call them anyways for me?" My dad asked him. Ricky moved again. "What's that face for?"

"My parents aren't at home."

"Alright, where are they?"

"Sunday they went to Aspin, to be with my sister and her husband. I could call them if you want to pay the long distance fees."

"We'll talk about this more tomorrow. If I catch either of you naked in a bed." My dad said and walked out. As the door was closing, then it opened again. I didn't hear anything for a while.

"Did he just say I could stay the night?" Ricky asked me. I opened my eyes and looked around. There on my desk was a pair of PJ's.

"I'm going to guess my mom brought those in?" He nodded.

"He was saying you could stay the night and she was saying it was in or on a couch. Bathrooms throw there." I said as I got up and walked into the closet. When I walked back out in my PJ's Ricky was standing there and was in just pants. He looked lost.

"If you want you can use Chris room and he can bunk in here. It won't be the first time?" He looked at me.

"Chris sleeps with you?"

"It's not what you think." I walked to the end of the bed and flipped a switch. A bed came out. It wasn't made or anything. But it was a bed. "He slept on the bed, he's the only one who sleeps in a guess room. I'm the only one who has an extra bed." I told him. Then hit the button again and the bed went back in.

"You guys are really just friends?"

"Yes, neither of us have crossed the line. He's just my best friend. The beds not made so your either have to share mine or." He came over and kissed me. "What was that for?"

"I don't think I could ever compete with him." I smiled.

"You never have to." I kissed him again, turned off the computer and got into bed. He grabbed the light and moved behind me. "Remember how my dad said if he ever caught us naked?" I asked him.

"Then he didn't say what he would do and walked out." I nodded.

"He'll either kill you or ship you off to a third world country. I'm not trying to scare you or anything, just giving you a heads up?" I told him.

"You mean that don't you?" I nodded. "That really dose scare the shit out of me."

"Will it be that hard not to get naked in my bed?"

"Now not at all." I rolled over and looked up at him. "All I'll have to think about is that. I don't know which one is more scare?" He asked me.

"Don't think about it, but I wouldn't pick either of them. So don't take off your clothes while in my bed." He laughed. I rolled back over and he put his arm around me. Just like that I fell asleep.

When I woke up the room was bright. Ricky was still holding me. But I was laying against his chest. Slowly not to wake him up, I slid out of bed. After slipping on socks I slipped out of the room. Chris was doing the same thing. He looked at me.

"Why are you sneaking out of your own room?" He asked me. Then looked into my room. "You had Ricky sleep in your room?"

"It was more my parents idea, it was that or the couch. Why are you sneaking out?" I asked him and pulled him away from my room.

"I gave my room to Tank and Lisa. I'm subplots to be on the couch. I might be excepting that I'm gay. But I don't want people to know, and neither dose he." Chris said.

"So your sneaking around in a house full of super spy's? How do you think dad found out?" I whispered and tapped my head.

"There not who I'm worried about. Super spy's keep what they know to their self's. Best friend's boyfriends I'm not so sure about. I like Ricky and all that, but this is something else." He told me. We walked into the kitchen and stopped.

"Super spy's?" dad asked us.

"It kind of fits," Chris said. Dad smiled and leaned against the counter.

"First I'm bat man now a super spy?"

"They both fit dad, your dress in black, have weapons, save the good people and take down the bad guys and own a huge company. We'll really your more like batman. But you don't work at night anymore. But you're not batman so you're a super spy." I told him.

"Why do you have to be like me, that made scenes." I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down.

"Plus you looked really hot in that batman suit." Mom said as she walked into the kitchen. She was pulling Ricky along with her. I saw his face and know he was listening in. I just didn't know how long he was listening.

"Babe," Dad pulled her to him and said something in her ear. I turned around and didn't watch what was about to happen. Chris followed me. I singled for Ricky to turn around also. He did but gave me a look.

"Oh god, give a guy a warring." Peter said, he walked into the kitchen and turned around.

"Dose this happen a lot." Ricky asked.

"Most the time there in the office and the guys have to deal with it." Peter told him. Mom walked back out of the kitchen and everything went back to normal. But I saw Ricky looking at Chris. I grabbed my coffee cup and Ricky's hand and walked out. I shut my dad's door behind us and leaned against the desk.

"That was a very private conversation you over heard." I told him.

"You are a lot like your dad," He told me. I waited, I didn't care how long I would have to wait. "I woke up as you were leave and overheard, I followed you down to the kitchen. I wasn't meaning to overhear."

"Can you deal with what you over heard?" I asked him.

"You really did mean it when you said I never have to compete with him didn't you." He came over to me.

"Was that and answer?"

"Yes I can live with that." I kissed him. "Who's room was he sneaking out of?"

"No ones," I kissed him again and walked out of the office. He followed me. I grabbed my box of cereal and sat down. I got half a blow full and that was all.

"Who eats my cereal?" I asked the room. Dad looked back at me and I could see he was thinking about it. Then he turned back around and looked throw the cereal to find another box of mine.

"Go talk to Lester." He told me. I got up and started walking out of the kitchen.

"Is Lorie here?" He shook his head no. I grabbed a juice picker and filled it up with snow. Then I walked out of the kitchen and up to Lester's room. I walked over and dumped the snow on him. He shot awake right away, saw me and stayed where he was.

"Did you eat my cereal?" I asked him.

"You dropped snow on me because I eat your cereal." I hit him with the juice pitcher.

"You eat almost all of it and didn't put it on the shopping list. There's a list for a reason. I only eat one kind, find your own."

"You eat more than one kind, that's just your favorite. Sorry I didn't put it on the list. Can you please leave so I can get out of the bed?"

"Will you put it on the list next time?" He nodded. I walked out and shut the door behind me. I wrote my cereal on the list and went throw the boxes for something else I would like. Then sat back down and mixed the two.

Slowly everyone came in and sat down to eat or grab some coffee. I washed my blow off and started walking out of the kitchen. Someone grabbed me, throw me over there showered and ran outside with me. They dropped me in the show and ran back inside. I just laid there shivering. My dad came over and picked me up.

"Cold" He held me close and walked me inside and up to my room. He turned on the shower and sat me on my feet. He caught me as I fell and sat me down.

"Baby,"

"Cold," He put the stopped in and let the tube fill up with hot water. Held me up and brushed the hair out of my face.

"Come on baby, are you getting warmer?" He asked me. I nodded and slowly stopped slivering. When I wasn't cold anymore, he helped me up and wrapped me up in a towel. I nodded when he was looking my face over and he walked out. I undressed and pulled on my PJ's that were sitting on the counter. When I opened the door, dad wrapped me up in a blanket and walked out with me.

"Still cold?" He asked me. I shook my head no. He sat down on the couch and just held me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep behind held by my daddy.

"How is she?" Who was that? Why was it every time I started falling asleep people started talking and woke me up.

"It's hard for me to remember sometimes that she's all grown up?" I swear that was my dad.

"She's not all grown up yet, Ranger. She has your whole life in front of her. Now how is she?" Mom asked him again.

"When she wakes up she should be fine." He told her.

I didn't hear anything for a while. I much have fallen back to sleep. Because when I opened my eyes. We were in my dad's office. He was working on something. I looked over and couldn't understand any of it.

"Finely awake?" He asked me.

"No," I felt his chest shacking and knew he was laughing at me. Then he kissed my head. I laid my head back against his chest. I felt safe, protected and warm.

"Are you hungry?" He asked me. I nodded yes, I was starving. He pulled back and helped me up. I looked down at him and wanted him to come with me. He put the papers down and got up. We walked into the kitchen and I sat down on the island. Dad grabbed some things and put a hot blow of soup in front of me.

"You're going to have to come out of hiding sooner then later." My dad told me. I looked up at him. He was waited for me to come to terms.

"I'm not hiding?" I told him. He came over and kissed my head. I watched him walk out of the kitchen. I flicked out a little, then got up and washed my blow. I wrapped up in my blanket and walked back up to my room. It was already cleaned up.

I started a movie and sat down. It didn't take long for Ricky to show up. He leaned against the doorframe watching me. I moved over and he came over.

"What happened this morning?" He asked me. He put his arms around me and pulled me between his legs.

"When I told you dad get into trouble if we get sick and said it had to do with Sara wasn't all the way true. The first Christmas we lived her, dad got each of us a snowmobile. Peter and I couldn't wait and went out with the guys. We played around here, and then went out the back gate. I got lost, as I was trying to find my way back I ran out of gas. Then it started snowing. Short side of the story I was out there a pretty long time before my dad found me. I love the snow, but I hate the snow." I told him.

"Why did you go with us yesterday?"

"I'm fine most the time. This morning just caught me by surprise." I told him.

"I don't think I ever want to piss off your mom." I looked up at him. What was he talking about? "After your dad walked out of the kitchen with you, your mom walked in. She saw and everyone pointed to Lester. Even though they were in a different room I could hear her yelling."

"It's funnier to watch. Mom's half Italian and yelled with her arms a lot." He tipped my chin and kissed me. "When are your parents going to be back?" I asked him. He looked away from me. I sat up and looked his face over. "Ricky,"

"The 7th," What why that a big deal. "Of January." My mouth dropped and I just looked at him.

"What?"

"It's no big deal," He told me.

"It's no big deal that your parents left you for the next mouth and half." He shook his head.

"It's not the first time, it's fine Julia." He told me.

"Is that why Chris knew?" I asked, he looked down at me. "Last night when Chris was going to head home, it slipped that you wouldn't have to call home." I added.

"Ya he knew," I just looked at him. Why wouldn't he tell me or think it was a big deal. "Julia really it's not a big deal, they go all the time. I'm left with money and I'm fine."

"How long have they done this?" I asked him.

"Every other Christmas and summer, for a few years. Before I was 16, I would have someone stay with me. Now it's my choice." I just looked at him. I didn't know why he thought this was alright. Someone cleared there through. We looked over and I saw my dad there. He was in super spy mode. I smiled at him.

"Got called in?" I asked him. He nodded and looked at his watch. "I'll behave." I told him. He nodded again and shut the door behind him.

"Where dose your dad work?"

"He owns Rangerman. He does have partners, but for the most part." I shrugged. My door opened again. Mom stock her head in.

"Honey can you make sure everyone gets into bed." I nodded to her.

"You're going in?"

"We'll be fine," She shut the door and took off.

"And your mom?"

"She works there also, mostly on the floor. But goes out when it's an important client. I'll be back." He got up with me. Sara was on her bed talking on the phone.

She made a sign for me to shut her door. I did and moved on. Chris's door was open. Emily, Steven and Lily were asleep. I turned on all the night lights and cracked their doors. Then I went down to the family room. Max was asleep on the couch. Chris saw me and picked him up. He walked out and put him to bed for me.

"Did all the guys leave?" I asked Peter.

"Call came in, house gets cleared out. Lisa took the kids home in the hummer and Tank went with Lester. Must be important if mom went." I nodded and brought my feet under me.

"Did you hear anything?" He shook his head no.

"Dad got the call." I nodded. Chris came back in and sat back down.

"50 bucks said Ricky's car shows up in the middle of the night." He said to everyone.

"I don't bet against you anymore. You cheat." I told him. Peter nodded along with me.

"Fine,"

"You really wanted to make 50 dollars?" I asked him and nodded to the poker table.

"Do you really fell like giving me all your money?" He asked me.

"Put your money where your mouth is?" I told him. He pulled out his wallet and waved it. I looked over to Peter and he nodded. I looked up at Ricky and he was smiling. I got up and headed upstairs.

"We'll be ready." Chris said. I opened my wallet and counted the money. I walked into the closet grabbed the box that was in my underwear droll. I counted out 200 and put it in my wallet. Then I headed down. They had everything set up and drinks around for us.

"50 to start and 25 buy in." Chris told me and dealt out the cards. I looked at them and bet.

Six hands later I was smiling as I delta out the cards.

"You three play a lot?" Ricky asked us. He was holding his own.

"It's not always about the money," Peter said and shrugged.

"We do play a lot." I said and started thinking about it. I looked over to Chris. "What do you need the money for?" He added some chips and looked over to me.

"Why do you care?" He asked me.

"You hardly ever want to play for money. Peter plays for money more then you?" I told him.

"Why don't you care?" Ricky asked me.

"She never spends money, has a crap lot hidden somewhere in her room. She win's a lot also." Peter said.

"She cheats." Chris told him.

"I don't cheat, I just learned how to read you to. Sara is another story. She's happy about everything. Dad or mom gives her the money to play with."

"You can read them?" I nodded.

"They read me also." I told them. We played a few more hands and Chris and Ricky were winning. I buy in and wasn't really played anymore. I just was having fun. Peter played close to home and was doing just as good as the guys.

"Why are you letting them win?" I jumped and looked around. My dad was in the doorway watching us.

"What?" Everyone said. He looked at me and waited.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He raised an eye brow.

"Your holding what a full house. Peter has maybe 2 pair's, but with something to tips his said. Chris has nothing, with a whole lot of nothing. Ricky might be able to bet Peter but not you. This isn't the first hand, so why are you letting them win?" He asked me again.

"You're noisy," I told him. He nodded and just stood there waiting. The guys were looking at me, they were waiting also. I thought about it and put in a bet. Peter folded and sat back. He wasn't one to mess around, when dad tell us what's what. Chris and Ricky keep on matching me. In the in all three of us were all in. We flipped our cards and I just smiled at them. I didn't have anything. Peter leaned forward and his mouth was open.

"What?"

"Shouldn't believe everything you hear. How did things go?" I asked dad. He was smiling.

"False alarm." He said.

"Where?"

"The mall, we're going to reinstall now. Hectors tired everything he can. Steph's been working with them on the install. Now she's going to talk them into doing it our way."

"Is the mall going to close?" He shook his head no.

"They'll work at night. It will open later in the day though. I'll talk them into it and have it done before Christmas." Mom said leaned against dad and looked at her watch. Chris was cashing everyone out. We all cleaned up. Peter and Chris walked out. I watched them and looked at my parents.

"Something on your mind?" I asked them. My mom looked at Ricky but shook her head no.

"Everyone stayed asleep?" She asked me.

"Ya, Chris put Max into bed." I pushed off the table and kissed them. Ricky followed behind me. I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at them.

"Go ahead," My dad said and walked into their bedroom. I smiled and pulled Ricky in my room with me. He changed into the pants, as I got into bed.

"Why did you let us win?"

"I didn't need it, for some reason Chris did. Dose it bug you?" He turned my head and kissed me.

"No, why does Peter think you have a stash of money hidden in your room?"

"Because he's been trying to find it for years. I'm really good at poker, I've played with the guys and won a lot of money. When my dad took away the car, he gave me the money I spent on it. I really don't spend a lot of money." I told him.

"How much do you have?" He wanted to know.

"I don't know, I've never counted." I told him.

"Why don't you put it in the bank?"

"I don't want to know how much I have. I have everything I need." I rolled over and kissed him. He moved onto his back and let me lay on his chest.

"We'll thanks for making me some money tonight." I nodded.


	22. Chapter 22

I woke up and Julia was still asleep. She was still lying on top of me. I started to move and she rolled right over. I got up and headed down to the kitchen. Chris and Ranger were talking. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down.

"I'm heading home soon, do you want a ride?" Chris asked me. I nodded. I had a crap lode of homework to do.

"Have your dad call me when you're no longer grounded." Ranger told him and walked out of the kitchen.

"Why are you heading home?" I asked him.

"Church," I smiled at him. We got up and headed up stairs. I got dressed and kissed Julia.

"I'm heading home," She nodded and kissed me again. "Text me when you wake up." She nodded again. I grabbed my coffee cup and walked out. Chris walked out of a different room putting on a belt. He was all dressed up. I followed him back to the kitchen. He filled up two cups of coffee and handed one to me.

"Why are you heading home?" Chris asked me as we walked to his car.

"I have homework to do. How long are you grounded?" I asked him.

"No clue. Its normal doesn't stick to long. My dad's cool most the time." He told me.

"Why were your grades so bad?"

"I don't care about then. Monday I can bring them up. All I have to do is hand some work in. I'm smart, but don't care to do anything in class." I could understand that. He pulled in front of my house. I thanked him and got out. He drove away as I let myself in.

The house was a mess. I turned on the tv and started working on my homework. I don't know how long it was before someone knocked on the door. I put my books on the table and got up. I couldn't see a car, but opened the door. Julia's mother was standing there. She was smiling at me.

"Morning?" I asked her. As I looked around for her car.

"Oh my car's there. I brought you breakfast." She said and showed me a bag.

"Why?"

"It's Sunday, Ranger cooks and it's good. You should have waited and eat with us." She told me.

"I had homework." She read my face, and then looked past me.

"What are you hiding, you can do it the easy way and let me in. Or the hard way?" I opened the door and moved aside so she can come in. As I shut the door behind her, she was stopped and looking around.

"I'm not a good cleaner." I told her.

"When did your parents leave?"

"Last week, I hire someone to come and clean right before they come back." I told her. She nodded and started looking around. She walked into the kitchen and started looking throw everything.

"How much money did your parents leave you?"

"Enough, why?"

"You don't have any food in this house?" She told me.

"I don't like cooking either. I always have enough money. This isn't the first time they have left. If I run out, they send me some more. Julia and you are a lot alike. Don't worry about me." I told her.

"I understand you're an adult, but until you're out of school someone needs to be looking out for you. Here or at the house, I will be making sure your being taken care of." She told me.

"Why?"

"Because you chose my daughter. Ask Chris, I've been watching over him for years. Go back to your homework." I looked at her for a few minutes, then did what she said. I sat down and started doing my homework. She came over and sat a plate and cup down in front of me.

"Thank you." She smiled at me and walked away. As I was eating I noticed she was cleaning. When I was done eating, she was back to take everything. She never said anything to me, just keep on cleaning. When I would stop, she came over and asked if I needed help.

She was done cleaning a few minutes after I was done with my homework.

"I think you should watch over Chris a little more." I told her.

"There's a lot going on in his life right now. He's grades aren't' something I'm worried about. I also know he's not applying to any collages." She told me.

"So I'm not going to get rid of you?" I asked her.

"How much money did your parents leave you?" She asked me.

"They set it up with the bank. Every week, I get 200 dollars." I told her. She thought about it.

"Do you spend all that money?"

"Not always. I do save most of it to get the house cleaned." I told her. She looked at me,

"Alright, I'll still will be watching over you while your parents are away. But I won't make you come home with me. I'll be checking up on you and making sure the house is clean and you have food." She told me and got up. I got up with her and followed her into the kitchen. She showed me the fridge and there were pre-made meals ready.

"How did you do that?" I asked her.

"I have my ways, there's direction on every one of them." She said as she pulled on her Jacket. "Just a warring, Ranger will know if you break any of his rules here also." She hugged me, kissed my check and walked out. I took that heads up and shut the door behind her. I found something I would like to eat and warmed it up. I started to eat and someone knocked on the door. I got up and opened it. Chris was standing there.

"What's up man?" He walked in, when I moved out of his way. I shut the door behind him.

"Steph was here?" He asked.

"How did you know that?" He pointed to the table.

"She's brought food over to my house more than once." He said and sat down. I thought about it for a minute. Then walked into the garage and grabbed two beers. He took the one I handed to him and opened it. I sat down and opened mine.

"What brought you here?" I asked him.

"You're the only person I know who's parents are gone. Where did you get this?" He asked and took another drink.

"There's a fridge in the garage. There my dad's, as long as I replace them he doesn't care." He nodded and took another drink. I took a bit and it was really good.

He got a fork and shared it with me. When we were done, I cleaned up and grabbed us a new beer. He took it and turned on a movie.

"My dad told me this weekend he was getting remarried." Chris told me after about the 5th beer.

"That's harsh man," He nodded.

"That's not even the best part. She's has kids herself. Two, actually. That's not the problem, the thing that really pissed me off is everything has been planned and they just told me on thanksgiving. I'm 18 and they didn't think I needed to know. What's even worse is, now I have to share my room." He told me.

"So you're here?" I asked him.

"I can put up with a lot of shit, but my dad just crossed the line."

"I don't think this is what we need." He looked at me. I got up and opened the liquor cabin. He grabbed a bottle and took a drink.

"Shit," He said.

"At less your dad's there still. My parents don't even remember I'm around anymore." He looked at me.

"What?"

"My parents came home for my mom's birthday because it was with my grandparents. Their home a few weeks out of the year." He shook his head.

"Sorry man."

"I got over it, dose your dad know?" He looked at me. Shook his head and took another drink.

"Wouldn't that be something, oh ya dad by the way I'm gay." He started laughing. "Julia told you?" He asked.

"I overheard you to talking." He started laughing again.

"Your parent aren't every home?" I shook my head no. "Why don't you have parties or a million girlfriends?" He asked me.

"I've like one girl for as long as I can think. I always thought she was with you. As for parties, there a lot of work. You know you're going to have to replace that." He nodded and took another drink.

"I know a guy, don't worry." He said and got up. "Do you mind if I sleep on your couch?" He asked me.

"We have a guess room." He nodded and started heading to the door.

"I'll be back, that was a great idea." He told me and walked outside. I got up and followed when I opened the door. I saw someone carrying Chris back up the driveway. He was holding the bottle.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Pickson, we've meet before. Where do you want him?" He asked me. I shut the doors behind them and showed them to the spear room. Pickson laid him down and walked back out.

"I'm going to forget all of this." He said, handed me the bottle and walked to the door.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Watching over things." He shut the door behind him and was gone. I cleaned up and got into bed.

The next morning I work up and my head killed. I hate drinking, no matter what I always wake up with a hangover. I got into the shower and got dressed. When I walked out, Chris was standing in the kitchen watching the coffee pot.

"Hung over?" I asked him. He nodded, I turned on the coffee pot and it started working. He nodded again.

"I'm got the feeling something happened last night."

"Someone named Pickson stopped you when you left last night and put you to bed." He nodded.

"I understand where my bag and clothes come from now. Want to give me a ride?"

"Where?"

"Julia's," I handed him a cup of coffee and headed to the garage. I pulled on a pair of sun glasses and pulled out of the driveway. He told me the code when I got to the gate. I pulled forward and parked in front of the house. We walked in and he headed up stairs and I walked into the kitchen. Ranger looked at me, shook his head and handed me a cup of coffee.

"How do you know everything?" I asked him.

"Have you looked in the mirror this morning?" He asked me. I shook my head. "You should." He put the lid on the blender and turned it on. I covered my eyes and walked out. I headed up the stairs and lay down on Julia's bed.

"Um you're in my room?" I nodded and covered my head with her pillow. Sometime later the pillow was moved away from my head. "What's wrong?" She asked me.

"Chris came over last night." She pulled off my sun glasses. Her room was really bright. I closed my eyes.

"You guys drank last night." I nodded. "Hung over?" I nodded again.

"He's worse than me." I said.

"We'll come on, I can't be late." She pulled on my arm and got me moving. Down in the kitchen Ranger handed out cups. Chris was lying down on the island.

"Chris," Ranger said close to his ear. Chris jumped up. "School." Chris nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Julia kissed his check and walked away. I followed her, she walked into the garage and got into the truck. I got in also.

"How much did you guys drink last night?" She asked as she pulled out of the garage.

"A few beers, Chris started drinking some whiskey." She looked back at him.

"Well it's your own flat. I thought you would have learned already?" She told him. I looked at her.

"Shit happened," He told her.

"Ya, your dad called here last night. You know next time you might want to check what your wearing before you take off." She told him. He looked at her.

"Your dad's noise, can't he leave shit alone?" Chris said.

"It was your own flat."

"Where's my keys?" I asked. Everyone started laughing.

"Her dad took them. You might get them back after school." Chris told me. I looked at Julia. She nodded and shrugged her shoulders at me.

"Sorry, That's what he's like." The rest of the day was crappy. After school, I walked outside and saw Peter waiting by the truck.

"Sorry about my dad." He told me.

"It's fine, what did Julia mean by. Chris should check what he's wearing?"

"There's a panic button in my belt. He was wearing it yesterday. When his dad called mine, he found him because of the belt." I nodded.

"Dose Julia have a button like that?" He nodded.

"Everyone has a few different ones. But we all make sure we at less have one. I don't know where her are. I picked where mine were and forgot when he took my belt." I looked at him.

"Sorry I got him drunk," He looked up at me. Then looked away.

"It's not the first time." He started to smile. "Dad caught them this once. They were outside on the tram drinking. Something was funny and they were laughing really loud. He walked outside and just looked at them. They both were in so much trouble." He told me.

"Did I just mess up with him?" I asked him. He shook his head no.

"Maybe if you showed up drunk, you would have? Dad's pretty cool about things." I nodded. Finely Chris and Julie walked out of the school and headed towards us.

"Sorry," She said to us and opened the door.

"What took you so long?" Peter asked as he was getting in.

"Chris had to talk to his teachers," She told him.

"Most like you made me talk to my teachers." Chris told everyone. Julia smiled and pulled out of the parking lot. "For that, you have to take me to the mall." She looked back at him.

"Why would you even bring that up with her?" Peter asked and dropped his head back.

"Because there's something I want to see." Chris said. I looked back at Peter and waited for his answer. Finely he nodded and I drove to the mall. As I parked my mom texted me.

'Your dad and I would like to talk to Chris when you get home.' I handed the phone to Chris. He texted back. I grabbed my wallet and got out. He slipped the phone in my pocket when he was done.

"What game just came out?" I asked. Ricky took my hand. I looked at him and he smiled at me. We walked into the mall and headed to the game store. The guys walked in, but something caught my eyes. Hector was pecking out of a door. I walked over to him. He handed me a tracker.

[Ranger wants you to slip it on Chris.] I nodded, hugged him and walked back to the guys. I slipped it to Peter and nodded to Chris. He nodded and walked over to Chris. I pulled Ricky over to me and went to look at something else.

"What was that about?" He whispered in my ear.

"Chris isn't going to want to talk to my parents." He looked at me. I kissed him. Peter nodded to me. We walked back over to them. Chris found the game he was looking for. He paid for it, we stood outside the store and waited.

"That's all you waited?" I asked him. He nodded and looked back at me. "Why are you looking at me, I don't need anything."

"Then let's go." We got back in the truck and drove home. Peter and Ricky got out. Chris locked the doors and moved to the front seat.

"Julia I've known you and your parents for more than 5 years. Want to tell me why you put a tracker on me?" He asked me and sat it on the dash.

"My dad really wants to talk to you, how did you know?"

"You should have done it yourself." He told me. "And you shouldn't have gave me a heads up this morning."

"You do know he's going to talk to,"

"I said I would be here and I would talk, give me a little faith here." I picked up the tracker and handed it back to him.

"I trust you, I didn't put it on you just because my dad asked. You got trashed last night and it wasn't just because you were with Ricky and could. Don't make me worry." He took the tracker and put it under his watch. "How did you know?"

"Peter keeps his distance when people are around. For him to get close, to close I started paying action." I nodded and smiled. "You know I would notice didn't you."

"Can I ask a question?" He just looked at me and waited. "Um have you, you know?" I asked.

"What?" He asked me.

"Do you two," He was just smiling at me.

"Are you asking if I've had sex with your brother?" He started laughing. "No I haven't had sex with your brother. Or anyone, I would have told you that. Just like how I know you haven't either. He's not ready."

"So you just sleep together?" He looked at me for a long time.

"Most the time, why do you want to know so badly?" I shrugged and didn't know.

"I don't know, we talk about everything. This is one thing I haven't known about you." He smiled at me again.

"Most the time we do just sleep together. Behind closed doors, he's very open. Just not ready to have sex. What about you and Ricky."

"Dad told me I've sexual. I don't really understand that. That's why he's so worried about me and boyfriends. But the only thing we've really done was make out." He smiled at me.

"You want more?"

"I don't know, I haven't' thought about it. When did you know?" I asked him.

"I think I've always known. Then when I started hanging out with your family and saw how Hal and Cal are with each other it clicked. I didn't like your brother until a little while ago. I didn't do or say anything till he did."

"What's been going on with you?" I asked him.

"My dad, moved in his girlfriend and her kids. I'm now sharing my room with someone I just meet. On top of that, I found out that they knew this whole time. I guess because I'm 18, I really didn't need to know." He was really upset over all this.

"Have you talked to Peter about Prom?"

"He knows and knows why I'm going and who I'm going with. He laughed about it. What I'll do for my best friend. Anything else?"

"Is it the same?" He looked at me.

"Since I haven't been with a woman I wouldn't know. But I don't think most things are different. A few things might be different but have the same meaning." I nodded and took in everything he said.

"Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

"If I didn't know my dad would kill Ricky sure, I think I scared him though. He asked what my dad would do and I told him. I don't know if that's what he would really do. But I'm guessing that's what would happen." Chris nodded and understood.

"The first night I slept in Peter's room, I snucked out in the morning. Your dad was waiting in the hall. He had a blank face and just waiting for me. It scared the shit out of me. You really know what he's thinking or going to do, until he does it. If Peter is ever ready, we won't be doing it here." I finely smiled at him.

"I think that would be a good idea. Never know when dad's going to come in and check on you. He's a lot more understanding with you and Peter then me." He nodded but looked over my head. I turned and saw the garage door open. The SUV pulled in. Both my parents got out. We got out also.

"This is a different place to have a talk." My mom said.

"It was quite." I told them. My dad opened the back door and grabbed some boxes. We walked inside with them and headed into the kitchen. We all sat down and started working on our homework. Dad was cooking.

"I'm sorry." My mom said as the doorbell rang. She patted Chris on the shoulder and walked out. I looked at Chris and he looked back to my dad. He was just cooking.

"Shit." Peter said. I looked at the doorway and was Chris's dad walk in with a beautiful woman and two younger kids. Chris got up and started putting his books together and in his bag. Everyone followed his lead.

"Max why don't you show Katie and Nick to the family room." My mom asked. He got up right away and showed them out. I watched Chris and I saw he was thinking of a way out of here. Before he could movie, my mom shut the kitchen doors.

"Libby this is my husband Carlos. Our oldest Julia and Peter, Julia's boyfriend Ricky. Can I get either of you anything?" Mom asked.

"No thank you." Libby said. She was looking around trying to take everything in.

"Dinner's almost ready, why don't you four clean up." Dad said. Just like that, Chris made a brake for the door. If you weren't watching, you wouldn't have noticed it. I followed behind him and saw he was heading for the front door. He tired it and it was locked.

"They thought of everything." I said to him. Grabbed his hand and pulled him with me.

"This is bullshit." He told me.

"I know and you can take it up with them after dinner. They think they are helping you." We walked up stairs and dropped our stuff in our rooms. When I got back I saw him trying to open his window.

"You know a way out of here. Come on tell me?" Chris asked. I thought about it and looked down the stairs. The kitchen doors was still open.

"You're trying to get out of the safest house in the world. And you're trying to do it with my dad down stairs?" I whispered at him. He turned around and nodded to me. Someone walked in the room. I looked back and saw Peter. He hold up his note book.

'If the house is on lock down, you can't get out. But if you unlock it, you can get out. Max might have the code." He shrugged. I smiled and nodded to Chris. I left them to their self's and went back to Ricky. I kissed him and pulled him with me back down stairs.

We walked into the kitchen as Chris headed for the garage. I shook my head when I saw Mom at the stove. She looked back at me as she was talking to Chris dad and Libby.

"Honey will you go tell everyone dinner's ready?" I nodded and walked out with Ricky in the family room, everyone was watching a movie. I told them dinner was ready. The TV was turned off and everyone headed up stairs. I told Ricky to follow them and headed to the garage. My dad was just outside holding Chris to him. He was talking quietly. He saw me and just keep on looking as he was talking. Chris pulled back and looked at me.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Yes." My dad said as he walked around us and inside.

"I hate sometimes that your dad's a super spy. He was here waiting for me." I nodded and walked inside with him. We sat down at the table and grace was said. Everyone passed food around and eat. When dinner was over, the kids washed up and headed out. Libby smiled as she saw her kids play. Chris looked at me dad. Peter and Ricky got up, washed off their plates and headed out.

"I'll clean up." I told my parents. My mom kissed me and asked Libby if she would like to be showed around. Our dads walked out with Chris. I started cleaning up, Ricky and Peter came back in.

"Should I wait?" Ricky asked.

"You want to go home?" I asked right back.

"Not really, but I don't want to get in the way." I leaned over and kissed him. "I'll stay." I kissed him again. After I got everything cleaned up, Peter went to feed the pets. I leaned against Ricky and kissed him again. He put his arms around me and kissed me for real.

"Julia?" I looked around Ricky and saw my mom. She was smiling.

"Ya?" She held out a pair of keys.

"Either move the car to the garage or you need to head home?" My mom said. Ricky pulled away from me and went to get the keys.

"You don't mind me staying?" She shook her head no.

"The room next to Peter's has some clothes in there. If something isn't the right size or if you don't like it, let me know." She smiled and walked away. I went with Ricky to move his car. He parked it on the far side of the garage.

Then I showed him the room. I kissed him and headed back to my room. I changed in to PJ's and sat on my bed. I still had some work to get done. He came in and did the same thing. But before he sat down, he put on a movie.

I saw Chris walk into the room. He was upset.

"What's going on?" He shrugged and leaned against the door frame. "Heading home?" He shook his head no.

"Because I talked to my teachers I'm not grounded anymore. I don't much like sharing my room. So I'm staying the night tonight. Libby hated that idea. She couldn't understand how my dad would let me stay the night here. But he said it was cool and went home with them." I nodded and pointed behind him. He looked back and saw Peter. He turned and followed him.

"Are you tired?" I asked Ricky, he looked up at me and closed his books. I moved mine over to my desk and turned everything out. He pulled me to him.

"I'm going to ask you out on a date soon, do you think you'll say yes?" He asked me.

"Maybe," He tilted my chin up and kissed me.

"Good," He said and moved onto his back. I lay on his chest.


	23. Chapter 23

That's what happened. That Thursday he asked me out on a date. Mom helped me get ready and we had a great night. The next weekend I took him out. He loved it. Every time I said something in Spanish his eyes turned dark.

Chris's dad worked something out so Chris now had his own room back. That didn't mean he was home all the time. But he did start to go to church every Sunday.

He was dropping off Cindy from the dance as Ricky was driving us to my house. He pulled into the garage, got out and helped me out. We walked inside and saw the living room light on. We walked in there and I saw dad sitting down reading.

"Where's Chris?"

"Dropping off Cindy, where's mom?"

"At the mall with Hector. I think she's getting bored in the office." I sat down and pulled off my shoes.

"Dad mom's at the mall." I said to him. He looked up from the book. "Mom at the mall and you can't understand why she doesn't want to leave?" I asked him. He closed the book and sat it on the end table.

"I thought the job should have already been done?" Ricky asked.

"They're doing one last check tonight. They were done, but someone said things aren't working. Hector and Gears are going throw everything. Steph should be talking to the people in charge there. How was the dance?" I looked over to Ricky.

"Boring, I was right not to want to go before. How do you go to the police ball every year?" I asked him.

"I go with Steph and the guys. It's also not a high school dance. You didn't have fun?"

"Oh I had fun. But there are too many rules. No kissing, close dancing or anything like that. I got yelled at a few times and I'm sure you'll get a call Monday about how I acted. Without all that I had a fun time." He nodded and looked over to Ricky.

"It was alright,"

"We're having a vote for Christmas." He handed me a piece of paper. There were a few different ideas. I liked going to an island more than the rest, I put my vote down for that one. I handed it to Ricky and he just looked at me.

"I thought you would want to come with us?" My dad asked. But he was reading again. I watched Ricky and he picked the island also. I gave the list back to my dad. Chris came in.

"So where are we going?" He asked.

"Looks like we're going to an Island. Are you sure you want to come with us?" Chris nodded.

"My dad's being all cozy with the new family. I'll still have to ask. It seems every time I want to do something Libby gets in the way. She wants me home by 6 and have prefect grades. I want to be home when I feel like it and have the grade I fell like." I leaned against Ricky and smiled at Chris.

"What's your dad doing?"

"The both of us are used to how it was. Dad always knew where I was and that I was safe. He always knew that I would bring my grates up in the end. He wants to keep things normal and please his girlfriend." Chris said.

"Ok I'm going to bed." I kissed my dad and headed up to my room. The guys followed me. I changed in my closet and Ricky changed in bathroom. We got into bed and I laid down on his chest.

"You were beautiful tonight."

"You weren't too bad yourself. Sexy is the word I'm looking for. Are you going to come with us?"

"And miss out on some fun in the sun, sand and water?" I pulled his head down and kissed him. I lay back down and fell asleep.

One day of shopping and we were ready to go. Chris dad even said it was ok for him to come with us. Everyone back a bag and dad got his plane ready. Sunday morning we got on the plane and it took off. I fell right back to sleep on Ricky.

"Babe, wake everyone up." My dad yelled. I shot away and looked out the window. There was smoke coming off the wing.

"What happened?" Almost everyone asked at once. My dad was trying to open the cock pit door. Mom was working everyone into their seat belts.

"Ranger?" My mom asked. My dad turned around and ran into the back room. He came back checking a gun.

"Cover your ears." He said to us and shoot the door. Then put his foot into it. I watched it fly open. He pulled on a pair of head phone and started specking. I caught a few of it.

"Mom?" I looked at her and saw she was pushing on her watch. I brought my boot up and flipped my heal. Then I took off my necklace, I hit the button as I past it to Ricky.

"Make sure it can't come off." I told him. He put it on.

"Ranger." My mom yelled at him again. He pulled off the head phones and ran back into the back room. He came back with a bag. The plane was going down fast. But he worked faster. He turned on a laptop and I saw a map. Then he pulled out a huge box. One by one, he locked a locater onto each of us.

[I love you,] He said to Steph and kissed her deeply. It was the first time that none of us looked away. The plane hit the water like a cannon. Everyone was wiped around. I felt someone working on my seat belt. Then pushed forward. Then there was nothing.

I came to couching up water. I rolled onto my side and keep on couching. Slowly I opened my eyes and looked around. I was on some beach. I pushed myself up and looked around. I got up and brushed myself off. I saw the tracker on my wrist. It was blinking red. My boots were still on.

After looking both ways, I started walking towards the sun. I walked for hours and didn't see anyone. I couldn't believe I survived.

"Julia?" Someone was calling my name. I stopped and looked for where it was coming from. I headed toward the trees and finely saw Ricky. When he saw me, he ran over and pulled me to him.

"Are you alright?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Through hurts." I told him. He picked me up and walked me over to a little pond he found. I took a drink. "How long have you been awake?"

"A few hours maybe." I kissed him.

"How did we survive?" I asked him.

"I don't know baby, I remember the plane hitting the water and thing pulling on me. Then I woke up and started looking for you." He said and kissed me again.

"We need to find everyone else." He helped me up and we started looking on the beach again. Maybe an hour later we found Lily culled up in a ball crying. Ricky picked her up.

"Are you hurt?" I asked her.

"Where are mommy and daddy?"

"We'll find them." When night came, we moved to a tree and sat down. She was asleep on Ricky.

"What are we going to do?" He asked me.

"We're beet, sleep might be the best thing." He put his arm around me and pulled me to him. "When she gets home, she going to be mad that her dress got ruined." I told him.

"If we get home?"

"What do you think these are for and the message my dad was sending out? Someone already knows where we are. It's just a matter of time."

"I hope your right baby." When he fell asleep, I looked around. I stayed where I was so he wouldn't wake up. But I was worried. How long were we out, how long will it take someone to find us? Where was everyone and are they alive. Slowly without meaning to I fell asleep.

I heard something and woke up. I stood up and started looking around.

"Sissy?" Max asked. I looked around for where the voice was coming from.

"Max?" I asked.

"How do I know it's you?" He asked me back.

"The morning I you meet dad you called him Ranger dad. Because you couldn't figure out what his name should be?" I told him. He came out from behind a tree and slowly walked over to me.

"Who's with you?"

"Ricky and Lily, are you hurt?" I asked him.

"No, but it's smarter to move at night. I was hiding during the day." I laughed at him.

"Can you use that brain of yours to find everyone else?"

"I don't even know where we are." I pulled him over to me and sat back down. "Is she hurt?"

"Just worried." He leaned against me and fell asleep. When the sun came up, I shocked Ricky.

"When did he show up?"

"Sometime in the middle of the night. He told me it was safer to move at night. But I think we should start moving." He nodded and put Lily on my back. Then picked up Max and started walking. I don't know how long we were walking when we saw foot prints. I asked Ricky to put his foot next to it and I saw they were bigger.

"They might be my dad's?" I told him. He looked around and we started following them. They keep on movie alone. They started walking to the trees and then were gone. There wasn't anything else left to follow.

"I don't understand?" I told him.

"We can't follow him in the trees. Dad's been in the army to long for us to be able to follow." Max told me.

"Where's help?" Lily asked. We sat down in the shade and looked around.

"How long do you think we've been out here?" I asked.

"More than a day." Ricky said. I did the math and thought tomorrow might be Christmas. I was tired and worried. Ricky started looking around. I looked at him and saw he looked worried. Then I heard it. Someone was coming towards us.

"Playing spy?" I asked my dad when I saw him. He pushed the weapon onto his back and ran over to us. He knelled down and checked all of us out.

"Are you hurt," He asked all of us. Lily moved right to him and latched onto him. Guys moved out of the trees and started checking us out.

"Stop." I said. The guys that was making sure I was not hurt. Stopped right before they touching my boots. Looked up at me, then to Ranger. "Touch the boots and your dead." I glared at him and took the water anther guy was holding out for me. My dad pulled me to him and kissed my head.

"Baby there ruined." He told me.

"She's been wearing them this whole time, I don't think she cares." Ricky said and took the water I handed him. He already had one.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked him.

"Tank and his team already headed back with Steph, Emily and Steven. They were found first. Dom just left with Peter, Chris and Sara. For some reason the trackers on this side of the island are weak. I came for you myself." He told us.

"Is everyone ok?" Lily asked.

"No one's hurt," Was all he said. He moved us onto the beach and two planes came out of nowhere. Someone helped each of us in and the doors were shut.

"Who were they?" Max asked.

"Special Ranger," Dad told him. Someone I didn't notice started passing out food.

"Who are you?" Max asked.

"Parker," The man said.

"I don't like you," Lily said. Max turned towards dad and waited for him to look down.

"What happened?" Max asked. Dad thought about it.

"Something happened and the plane started going down. We hit the water and with your mom's help, we got all of you out. But the current caught all of us and we were washed up on the beach." Dad told him.

"Do you think there were sharks in the water? It would have been cool to see some sharks." Everyone started laughing.

"All this happened and all you can think about is the fact that you missed seeing sharks?" I asked him.

"What, sharks are cool." It was a long flight. But finely we landed. The doors were opened and we were helped out. Then ran to a building. The doors opened and closed behind us. We were pulled into hugged and mom checked each of us out. Dad moved over and was talking to Dom and Tank.

"Was that the crash?" I asked, seeing the huge TV's that they were watching.

"For some reason the island was pulling off some find of interference. That's why it was hard for me to find you. We can't find out what happened after we hit the water. But we know what happened before. Shower, change and get something to eat and some sleep." My dad told everyone. Mom started handing out bags and pointed out the showers. Ricky wouldn't let me out of his grasp.

"Are you going to join me?" I asked him as I shut the bathroom door behind us. He cradled my face and kissed me softly. He pulled back and looked me in the eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you to, don't leave me." He wiped the tears off my face.

"Never going anywhere." He kissed me again. We both undressed and got under the water. I started crying and he held me. Just rubbed my back and told me everything was going to be alright. He washed us off and turned off the water. He wrapped me in a towel and did the same.

"This hit you hard, what happened?"

"My parents were killed before we moved here. No my mom was killed. Peter and Sara's parents were killed." He pulled me to him and kissed my head.

"Baby." I pulled back and smiled up at him. He kissed me, and then we got dressed. When we walked out. Most the building was cleared out. Peter, Chris and Sara were sitting down eating quietly. We moved over to them and started eating also.

Mom and Dad walked out with the younger kids and got them eating also. When they were in bed and sleeping. They went off to shower themselves.

"When do you think dad will take this thing off?" Sara asked us. She was looking at it closely.

"When he knows were safe." Peter told her.

"If it's on to long, will you paint it for me?" I nodded.

"I'll make sure it matches your shoes." She smiled at me. Then laid down and fell to sleep. Chris pulled Peter to him and whispered in his ear. I rolled and lay against Ricky.

"Get some sleep." He said to me.

"What about you?" I asked him. He kissed my head. Held me closed to him.

"I'll be right here. Get some sleep." He kissed my head. I moved so I was conferrable. I started falling asleep. Someone laid a blanket over me. I snuggled closer to Ricky.


	24. Chapter 24

I woke up and was in my bed. I was alone, I sat up and looked around. My room door opened and Ricky slipped in.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked me, when he saw that I was awake.

"A few minutes, how did we get here?" He came over and kissed my head.

"Your dad drugged you. He wanted everyone to sleep on the trip home. We got here a few hours ago. Are you hungry?" He asked me.

"Are we home?" He kissed me again. Then helped me up. He put his arms around me and walked me to the kitchen. There was a full spread waiting to be eaten.

"Hey you said my dad drugged me?" I asked him as I was dicing up my plate. He followed behind me.

"I don't like apple juice. I was drinking water." He told me. I rolled my eyes. We moved over to the dining room table. "You're alright with your dad just drugging you?" He asked me.

"He wouldn't have without a good reason. Mom wouldn't have let him either." He started eating with me. It didn't take long for the table to fill up. Everyone was quite. Finely dad and mom walked in with Steven and Emily.

"Are we going to get answer?" I asked.

"Once everyone was asleep, the guys helped me get you on a plane and get you home. It's the day after Christmas, we're going to celebrate it today. No one outside of Rangerman knows that our plane went down. No one." He told everyone.

"What about the special rangers?" Max asked.

"That was a favor. The team was brought in with Tank. They know better than anyone about keeping thing private. If something happened I would have contacted both of your parents. Because nothing happened I would like everyone to keep this to yourself, until I know what happened." Everyone nodded.

"I thought the trip was Christmas?" Sara asked. Mom just smiled. When everyone was done eating we moved into the family room. It was transformed, there was Christmas decorations and presents. Lily and Emily went crazy.

Everyone sat down and the girls started passing everything out. There wasn't a lot for the older kids, but they did get something for Ricky and Chris. They younger kids got more, because there things weren't as much.

"Thank you," I said when I saw my new boots. "Where did you get them this time?" I asked dad. They were a washed out gray. The front covered my knees. Inside was lined in fur.

"Russia," My dad told me. I felt them.

"When were you in Russia?" I asked him and put them back into the box.

"That's just where I found them." He told me. I loved them, but I moved on. I got a new purse and wallet and a pair of sun glasses that matched. It was just my tease. White with some graffiti on it. I also got a laptop, notepad and cell phone. I loved everything I got.

"Why a new cell phone?" I asked them.

"We already planned to get everyone new ones. It's a good thing because most our stuff was left on the plane." Mom told me. I hugged her and put everything down. I pulled my feet under me and watched everyone.

Ricky was surprised with everything. He got a cell phone and notepad. Sunglasses, watch and wallet. The last box he opened was the biggest. It was a jacket. A really nice leather jacket. He couldn't believe that my parent would get him anything.

Chris got a new cell phone, notepad and x box. It came with some new games also. He also got a necklace, I leaned over Ricky to see what it was. It was really cool.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Something I thought was really cool," Chris told me.

Peter got a new computer, Cell phone and notepad. He got some movies. Belt, Sunglasses and wallet. Sara got a few different kinds of shoes and tights. She got a new computer and cell phone. She got a matching set of jeweler. It matched her completely.

The younger kids were still opening up there things.

"Thank you." Everyone said when they were done. There was hugs and a movie was put on. When it was over, dad helped the little kids take these things up to their rooms and we helped mom clean up.

"Your parents gave me things?" He asked me when we got into the bedroom.

"Once you enter the batcave, you never leave." He pulled me to him and kissed me. I put my things away and sat on the bed.

"This was a lot," He said to me.

"You've been around my family long enough to know that money doesn't matter." I got up and pulled him along with me into my clothes. I grabbed the box of money and handed it to him. He took it and opened it.

"Shit," He said.

"It's not about the money." I told him.

"Shit," He said and gave it back. I put it back in my underwear droll. "That why Peter hasn't found it, no one wants to go throw there sister's underwear." I nodded.

"Chris brought money when he needs to, I always know." I shrugged.

"How?"

"I put clothes away just how I like them. When there messed up I know. Can we got down and eat now?" He smiled and we went down and eat. All the guys were here with a huge dinner. Our family was glad to have us back in one piece.

We eat more than our fell and sat back. The woman cleaned up for everyone. After that, everyone left. Chris thought about it and stayed tonight also. I headed upstairs with Ricky and got into bed.

The next day I woke up and showered together. It wasn't anything more then to save time and be together. When I got out of the showed, I wrapped up in a towel and looked in the mirror. I screamed and started frisking out.

"Baby what's wrong?" Ricky asked me. He pulled me to him and cupped my face.

"Baby?" My dad said and he pulled the door opened. "Julia?" He asked and couldn't see me. I looked up at Ricky and couldn't see why he could see me.

"Right here dad?" I said.

"Where?" My dad asked. Ricky looked at him.

"She's standing right in front of me." I turned Ricky's face to the mirror. He looked at it, and then looked back at me. "What the hell is going on?" He asked me. I was getting upset. I closed my eyes and leaned against Ricky.

"How did you do that, baby?" My dad asked.

"What?" I asked him.

"Julia," I turned and looked at him. But I caught a gimps in the mirror and I could see myself again.

"What's going on?" I asked them. "How did you see me?" I asked Ricky.

"Can you do that again?" My dad asked.

"I don't even know how I did it in the first place. I don't even know how I changed back. How could you see me?" I asked Ricky again.

"Because he can't live without you. Julia can you do that again?" My dad asked, he was very clam about all this. I looked at both of them and knew they really wanted me to see it. I looked back at my dad and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, he was still waiting.

"I'm not going to push you," He kissed my head. When he pulled back, I saw surprise on his face. He turned my chin to the mirror and showed me that I disappeared again. "You can see her person, both of you are very lucky." My dad kissed my head again and walked out. I looked back at Ricky and saw him smiling. He kissed me deeply.

"So you can disappear?" He asked me.

"Not from you," He started laughing and gave me a push out of the bathroom. I looked back at him and dropped my towel. My dad was waiting for me in my room. I walked into the closet and got dressed. When I walked out he was still waiting.

"Why are you so clam?" I asked him.

"I'm not, you would be the one who could find a lope hole out of what I said." I shooed my head.

"No, how are you so clamming about my just disappearing like that. How can I do that? I don't understand. Your just standing there very clam about this?" He rubbed his face.

"Because I've meet people before who are supers, so has your mother. I don't know how or why you can all the sudden disappear. But it's a gift. For Ricky to be able to see you, that also is a gift." He came over and kissed my head.

"Sorry about, you know. It wasn't anything more then to save time." He looked my face over.

"I did say something about seeing." He smiled and walked out of the room. Ricky opened the door.

"Your dad is," He didn't know how to answer that.

"Ready for breakfast?" He followed me out. I took the cup of coffee my mom handed to me.

"Dad talked to you?" She nodded and waited. "Who do you know?" She leaned against the counter and smiled.

"I know a few, they won't openly say anything about it. But yes I do. One helped me finely agree with myself that I loved Ranger." I smiled at her.

"How did this person do that?"

"Just opened my eyes to see what I felt for him. She had the ability to match people with their soul mates. I never let her do it with me. But she helped me see that someone wasn't, who I was meant to be with." She told me.

"The cop, you were with the cop right before dad?" Peter asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yes, and he messed up who he should have been with." Peter grabbed some juice and filled up a cup. I grabbed the boxes and put them on the table. We sat down and started eating. Why is the milk always across the table from me.

"Here," Peter said and handed me the milk. I took it and pour it in my blow. When I was done eating, I got up and washed out my blow. Then went to look for my dad. He was in his office.

"I don't have any answer for you Baby. I will find them, though." He said.

"Why did only Ricky and me get this?" I asked him. He looked up from his laptop and looked at me.

"I don't know baby, I don't even know why you got this gift. I will get some answer though. Will both of you be able to keep this to yourself until them?" He asked me and looked at the door.

Ricky walked into the office and sat down.

"Yes," Ricky said.

"You want us to hid it from the outside world, or family also?" I asked him.

"You can tell everyone in this house. Until you have a grasp on how it works they might notice. But try and keep it from anyone else. People don't know about Supers for a reason. I never understood how your mother found out. I did because I've worked alongside them, a few times." I nodded and know I could do what he's asking.

"I'll try." He nodded and looked over to Ricky.

"It's not that you can just see her when she disappears, you can see her no matter what. Can't you?" My dad asked him. Ricky looked over at me.

"I have to think about her, and then I see her. It's like the wall disappear, and she's right there."

"Really?" I asked him.

"I wanted to know where you went, and then I saw you. It throw me, but cool." I liked that. Then looked at my dad.

"Who would a super have a power just to see someone?" He was thinking about it.

"Power's grow, both of yours will grow. Right now all he needs is to see or find you. Powers aren't normal given, there born with them. He's will grow into what they should be. So will yours." My dad told me.

"I'm invisible, how will that grow?" He smiled at me.

"I don't know baby, I've never meet anyone who's invisible before. I guess we'll see when it does. I haven't known someone with sight, it wasn't focused on someone. She could see anything and everything she wanted to. Got her in a whole lot of trouble before she was put on a team." He told us.

"Did you know her well?"

"No, I worked with her twice. But she was a talker and told me more then I wanted to know."

"I have a girls power?" Ricky didn't like that.

"No, I just said the person I knew was a woman. Power's aren't one sided. Men or woman can have any power. You were given yours because it was something you wanted. I don't know why Julia wanted to be invisible?" Neither did I. I kissed him and walked out to let him work.

"Try it," Ricky whispered in my ear. I looked back at him and he kissed me. I closed my eyes and tired to do it. He kissed me again deeply. I guess I did it. I pulled away and had him cover his eyes. Then I took off running. I sat on the bed in the spear room. Minutes later Ricky opened the door and leaned against the door frame.

"I'm going to like this." He said to me.

"I don't know yet, I don't even know how I do it. I didn't want to be invisible." He nodded and held out his hand for me. I got off the bed and walked over to him.

"Maybe it wasn't you wanted to be invisible, maybe you just didn't want everyone to see you?" He said,

"What are you doing man?" Chris asked. I looked over and saw Chris watching us. No he was watching Ricky. I slipped around him and closed my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked them?

"Looking for you, I'm heading home." Chris hugged me, then walked around me and headed home. I smiled at Ricky.

"You don't want to tell him?"

"I will when it's the right time." He pulled me to him and kissed me.

"So I shouldn't tell him?" Peter pocked his head out of his room.

"What?" We both said.

"I was asking if you wanted me to keep it to myself also." He asked me.

"What do you know?" I asked him.

"That you can do something really cool, it's been on your mind all day. You think really loudly." Peter said and rubbed his face. "I'll keep what I know to myself, if you keep what you're thinking to yourself." He turned and walked back into his room. I followed and sat on his bed.

"You can hear what I'm thinking?" I asked him.

"Yes and it's driving me crazy. This whole house is crazy, but you have a very loud mind." He said to me. You can hear everything I'm thinking. I don't think I like that too much. I closed my eyes, can you see me? I asked him.

"Yes, work on that and come back. But keep this to yourself." I nodded and walked out of his room. Ricky pulled me with him back down stairs.


	25. Chapter 25

Peter kept what he could do to himself. I don't know why he didn't want people to know, but he didn't. Ricky and I played around with my powers. It was fun and he was really helping me learn how to use them. He's even learned how to tell if I was there or not.

I just got done getting ready and walked out of my room. Peter waved me over.

"What?"

"Ricky's lying," He said. I pulled my hair out of my jacket and waited. "He's talking to mom about his parents being home. They won't be home for some time." He rubbed his head. "A few months, he thinks?" I nodded to him, turned and headed down stairs. Chris and Ricky were there with my mom. I took the shack and took a drink. Then looked over to Ricky.

"Ready?" I asked them. I kissed my mom's check and headed to the garage. Peter was there waiting. I got into the truck and turned it on as they were getting in. I pulled out of the driveway.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked me. I pulled out of the gate and headed towards the school. "Whole shit?" Chris yelled. I looked back at him and he was looking at me, something was on his face.

"Baby I think you might want to calm down." Ricky told me.

"No, I'm not talking to you right now. You lied to me, and you just better not try to see me." I told him when I saw that I wasn't in the mirror anymore.

"About what?" He asked me. I glared at him. "Alright, but if anyone see us. There not going to see you and we'll have to answer some question." I took a few deep breaths.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Chris asked me.

"I don't know, it just happens sometimes. You lied to me." I said to Ricky. I saw him look at me and thought about it.

"Want to give me a hint?"

"You've lied to me more than once?"

"No, I just want to know what you're talking about?" He said. I glared at him again. I parked in the parking lot and got out. Ricky caught up to me when I got to my locked.

"Baby give me a hint please?" He asked me.

"When are you parents going to be home?" I asked him. He dropped his head. "Peter overheard you and mom talking." I told him.

"They will be home at the end of the school year to see me graduate." I looked up at him and saw he didn't care.

"Do they do this a lot?" He shrugged.

"I'm fine with it, I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I pulled him down and kissed him. "Chris knows about you now." We both laughed. I got my books, kissed him and headed to my class. At the end of the day I got my things and went into the bathroom. I clammed down and closed my eyes. When I opened the door I couldn't see myself. I walked out and went to find Chris.

Ricky saw me at once and smiled.

"Are you coming over to do homework?" Ricky asked him.

"Don't I always?" I slipped behind Chris and flicked him in the ear. He looked around. Then keep walking with Ricky to the truck. "Where's Julia?" He asked Peter. I unlocked the truck and Ricky opened the door for me. I got in and he shut it.

"That is really freckling me out." Chris told me.

"I think it's fun." I pulled out and headed home. Have you told Chris that you can hear him? I asked Peter, he shook his head no.

We got home and parked in the garage. I grabbed my bag and headed inside. In the kitchen was a man I didn't know. I froze and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Ricky asked me. I didn't say anything. Reached for my phone. The guy folded his arms and just looked at me. He didn't say anything so I pushed one on my phone and put it to my ear.

"Yo," My dad said.

"There's a man in the kitchen." I said.

"Tell him it's an old friend." The guy said. I looked up at him and thought about it.

"He wants me to tell you he's an old friend." I told dad.

"Are you in any danger?" My dad asked me.

"I don't think so,"

"I'll be right there," He said and hung up. I looked at the man again, then put the phone away and sat down at the table. I pulled out my books and started doing my homework. The guys thought about it and sat down with me.

"What to explain why you're doing in my house Diesel?" I jumped, my dad showed up and started yelling. The guy pointed to me.

"That's what I'm doing here." I looked at him. My dad looked over at the table. I didn't understand. "You could only hide her from us for so long." I watched Peter looked back at the guy. Ricky took my hand and held it.

"Who said I was hiding her?" My dad asked him.

"Want to explain what's going on them. Because from what I know your daughter can disappear?"

"Everyone out." Dad said. Everyone grabbed their books and headed out. When we got out of the room, I passed my books to Ricky and tip toed back into the kitchen.

"You will leave her alone." My dad said to him. They were in each others face.

"It's just a matter of time before more people notice here. I'm here worrying you, Carlos."

"Worrying me about what, because if I ever find out you even laid a hand on her, I'll kill you."

"You've tried before. Do you really think you can? There are rules, supers don't live around normal people for a reason. How do you think I've noticed her, she's openly using her powers."

"Am not," I said, then covered my mouth. Both guys looked around for me. My dad finely smiled. He let go of the man and moved back.

"I don't think I have anything to worry about. You might be able to track her. But can you find her?" My dad asked him. The guy looked around the kitchen again. Then started walking towards me. I moved as he was getting closer. He stopped where I was just at, I moved right next to my dad.

"It's just a matter of time, if she brakes any of our rules. I'll be back for her."

"Diesel?" My hear my mom said. She walked into the kitchen carrying Emily. She saw my dad and looked back at Diesel. I think he needs a better name. "Why are you here?" She asked him.

"Just dropping off a warring." Mom looked back at Ranger.

"About what?" My mom asked him. She passed over Emily and walked over to him. I followed and watched. "About what Diesel." She was looking him in the eyes and waiting for him to answer.

"There's been sparks from powers in the area. I followed them here." He said.

"Who did you see?" She asked him.

"Julia, she can turn invisible." She smiled at him.

"You will keep this to yourself and leave. No one needs to know you were ever here or you saw anything. Thank you for stopping by, have a nice day." He nodded, turned and was gone.

"How did you do that?" I asked my mom. I pulled myself back. She just smiled at me. Kissed my head and walked back over to my dad. She took Emily and walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm really sorry, you scared me." I told my dad. He pulled me to him and kissed my head.

"It's just a matter of time. You're not the only one he could have been tracking. Almost everyone who was in that reek came back with something special." He told me. I pulled back and looked up at him. He was smiling.

"What?" He pulled back and smiled back at me. Turned me around and gave me a little push out of the kitchen. In the living room, the guys were doing their homework.

"What are we working on?" I asked them. Ricky handed me, my history book. We got down to work. I started working, then looked over to Peter.

Have you told dad? I asked him. He shook his head no.

Do you know that others have powers also? He looked up at me. He was thinking about answering me. Then nodded.

Who, I wanted to know. He just shrugged and wouldn't tell me. I looked at him for a long time. He just went back to his work. I followed him and went back to my work.

"Can I join?" Sara asked us. I moved over and let her sit down. She opened her book and started doing her homework.

Before I changed books, I got up and used the bathroom. When I was heading back I stopped. Sara was at the bar doing her homework. Why would she leave? I walked into the living room and she was there.

"Um?" I said and looked at her then pointed out of the room. Everyone just looked at me. I walked back out of the room and there she was still sitting in the kitchen.

"What the hell?" I asked Sara when I got back into the living room.

"Don't give me that, you can turn invisible." She told me, but didn't look up at me.

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"When someone scares you, you disappear." She shrugged and didn't care.

"What can you do?" I asked her and sat down and grabbed my book.

"Dad said I can duplicate myself. It's faster to do my homework this way. It's also easier for me to pick out what I want to ware in the morning. I can only make 2." She told me.

"That's cool, how do you do it?" I asked her. She smiled at me.

"I wanted to say home and watch a show. But I know I had to go to school. It just happened. One minute I was torn between what I had to do and want to do. I stayed home and my other half went to school for me. When we mirage back together, I know everything that happened."

"I wish I could do that,"

"No you don't, mom found out that I was staying home. There are rules against me doing that." She wasn't happy about that.

"Even with that, it's really cool." She nodded.

She was done way before us. I watched her leave. Then went back to my work.

"Dinner," My mom said stopping in the doorway. We dropped our books and followed her out.

After dinner I grabbed Ricky and made him stay with me. When everyone else was gone I gave him a look. He saw my parents were still there and looked at me.

"Something you guys wanted to tell us?" My dad asked.

"I lied about when my parents would be home." Ricky told them.

"Alright, when should they be home?" My mom asked. Ricky looked at me again.

"They said they would be back at the end of the school year." Mom just looked at him.

"Your parents left you alone for over a mouth and won't be back for 5 more?" Dad asked him.

"I kind of lied about that also. The only reason they were here for my mother's birthday was because my grandparents planed a party for her. They haven't been home for a few months before that." Ricky said.

"You like that your partners aren't home, why?"

"Wait till you meet them. They never wanted another kid. I get in the way and they like to tell me." He told her. I was looking at my mom and saw she was looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, no one should act like that." Then she got up and walked out.

"Your powers are less of my worries. No one can see you use them. No one can really tell if you're using them. But if you see Diesel, call me." My dad started cleaning up.

"You haven't put any rules on my powers yet why?" I asked him as I walked to the sink with the dices.

"I don't need to. Your old enough to know when to use them and when not to. You're talking about Sara aren't you?" He asked me.

"Yes,"

"I told her, if she left her duplicate at home and she went to school. I wouldn't care. Until we know what more, I want everyone to be very careful." I nodded and understood that.

"So mom, me, Ricky and Sara have powers?" I asked him. He smiled at me. "You do, don't you?" He opened a droll and pulled out a knife. I gasped when he cut his palm. He closed it, then opened it and the cut was gone.

"I want that one." Ricky said.

"How did you found out?" I asked him.

"You don't need to know that." He kissed my head and walked out of the kitchen.

"I want that power." Ricky said again.

"It's a good one for him to have. Dad get hurt every once in a while. We all worry about him. I haven't fingered out moms, but she can make people talk to her. Are you going to stay the night?"

"Yes, but I'm going to head home a get some things." I kissed him and let him walk out. I cleaned up and went back to my homework. Chris was the only one that was in the living room.

"I was waiting for a cool time to tell you." I told him.

"You wanted to play around with me, I get it. Ricky can see you?" He told me.

"Yes, any time any place he can see me. Can you do anything?" I asked him.

"What?"

"Since the plane crash, a few of us have been showing special things. How you noticed anything?" I asked him.

"No, should I have noticed something?" He asked. I shrugged and handed him my note book. He took it and checked my answers against his. "I'm glad for you, but I don't want to be special." He told me.

"Neither do I, I can't even control myself. You saw me today. When I get upset or scared it just happened. I'm working on it. But I'm afraid I'll do it when I shouldn't." He looked up at me.

"You're really afraid."

"That guy was here because of me."

"We'll have to work on that them. I'm sure your dad will let us brow a few things. I'm sorry," I smiled at him. "Five is wrong," He told me and showed me the changes.

"How's things at home?" I asked him.

"Too many things have changed. Nothing has changed here. Your dad put his foot down at me hiding here, unless I couldn't take it. So during the week I have to go home." I nodded and checked his history and health. When I was done, he put his things away and went to fine Peter to say goodbye.

I cleaned up everything and headed off to bed.

I drove home and packed up a bag. As I was walking throw the house. The guy was there leaning against the counter waiting.

"There is a door," I told him. He smiled at me and nodded.

"You don't care that I'm here?"

"Why should I?"

"Because Julia isn't the only one with power is she. What's your?" He asked me.

"What's yours?" I asked him. He just shocked his head.

"Do you know how you got your powers?" He asked me.

"How did you get yours?" I asked him back. He didn't like that I wasn't answering him.

"I was born with mine. Mine are also registered. You were not and you are not. So answer my questions, I can make your life very shitty." I thought about it.

"I don't know how I got my power. I didn't even know I had them at first. Why are you really here?"

"It's my job to control supers. Is your power dangerous in anyway?" He asked me. I started laughing and shaking my head.

"It doesn't do anything for anyone. My power helps me with the one thing I want. That's all." He looked at me.

"I can teleport." He told me. He was giving me something and was hoping I would give him something in return.

"I can see Julia no matter what. All I have to do is think about her and I can see her." I told him. He just looked at me and didn't believe me.

"You're a super and your power is to see a woman?" He asked me.

"She can disappear, I can see her. If you loved someone who could disappear, it would be enough." He nodded.

"She must be someone special. Are you sure you don't know how you were given these powers?" He asked me again.

"One day she disappeared and I could see her. She was freckling out and I didn't know why. We've been working on it. But like you saw, she hasn't been able to fully control it." He nodded.

"Has she shown anyone who isn't trust worthy?" He asked me.

"You, that's about it. School just started back up today. She can make her powers work on will. But when she gets upset or scared." I shrugged at him.

"I'm trust worthy,"

"I don't know you at all. Knowing Ranger doesn't like you, that make me chose his side." He smiled and laughed.

"Ranger and I have history. Do you live here?" He asked and looked around.

"Most the time." He nodded.

"I'm surprised you haven't called Ranger."

"I haven't seen you as a treat to myself yet. Somehow you know I have powers but you couldn't tell what they were. I can see my girlfriend, that's should be the less of your worries. So why should I care if you were here. Would you like me to call him?" I asked him.

"I would rather not. I've worked with him and Steph. Those two together," He shook his head no. Pushed off the counter and was gone.

"At less he's smart." I got in my car and drove back to the house. Ranger was his office looking at his computer.

"Diesel is afraid of you and Steph." I told him. He looked up at me.

"Together we're a good team," He told me.

"There has to be more of a reason than that?" I told him.

"Steph always has had a way with people, even supers. I've never needed to be super to make my point. He's needed her help more than I would like. We worked together on the same team a few times. Once didn't turn out very well for either of us. Did he bother you?"

"Not really, he answers his own question before I would. He thinks what I can do is a jock." Ranger smiled at me.

"He would, being able to see someone you love isn't something he would want. But is a better gift then any of his put together."

"Thanks," He nodded and said good night. I went upstairs, changed and got into bed. Julia rolled over and laid on me.

"What took you so long?" She asked me.

"Someone stopped by to talk to me." She was already asleep.

It took mouths for me to fully control my powers. I no longer had to calm down or close my eyes. I thought about it and I could disappear or reappear.

It did take a few weeks for me to notice everyone's powers.

Steven could run really fast. Lily was telekinetic. Sara could duplicate herself. Peter could read peoples thoughts and still hasn't told our parents.

Emily, Max and Chris hasn't showed any signs of having powers. They didn't even care. But Emily was only three and really didn't understand what everything meant yet. Max was too smart to want anything more. Chris didn't want to be anything more.

"This sucks." Ricky said walking back into my room. I looked up from my homework.

"What?" I thought that's what he was talking about, and then I remember someone called him right after school.

"My parents are going to be home tomorrow. They shouldn't be here for another week."

"I'm sorry," I leaned over and kissed him.

"Why the hell are they coming home?" He asked me.

"I could always ask if I could spend the night over at your house." I asked him.

"My parents wouldn't allow that." I disappeared. "They would never see you. Your dad wouldn't go for it." I shrugged.

"I'll ask," We got our homework done and changed for bed. He put a movie on and pulled me to him.

After school Ricky kissed me and headed home. I got in the car and did the same. Chris and Peter were already there. I sat down at the kitchen table and looked at Chris.

"Do you have plans for after school?" I asked him. It was something I've been trying to stay away from.

"Yes,"

"Why haven't you told me?" I asked him.

"Because I know you won't like it. I've known what I was going to do for years, Julia."

"What is it that I won't like?" I asked him.

"I joined the army. I leave a week after we graduate. During that week, I'm going to say goodbye to Peter. I already told my dad. Your dad already said I could and is letting me use a safe house. I've been waiting for you to ask." He told me.

"You already joined and didn't tell me?" I asked him.

"Yes," He said and looked me in the eyes. I disappeared, pushed out my chair and left. I got in my car and drove to Rangerman. I parked in the garage and headed right up to my dad's office.

"You let him join the army." I yelled as I opened the door and it slammed against the wall. I saw two people sitting in front of his desk. They were surprised to see me.

"Julia I'm in the middle of a meeting." My dad told me. I glared at him, turned around and headed for my mother's office. She was waiting. I sat down and waited.

"Something upsetting you?" She asked me. I folded my legs and waited.

"Julia you can't just come barging into my office." My dad said as he walked into mom's office.

"You knew, and you let him join the army?" I asked him. He turned a chair around and sat down.

"It was his chose, he came to me and talked to me about it. But in the end it was his to make."

"It was the young one, you could have talked him out of it and you didn't." I shook my head at him.

"Baby it isn't in my right to talk him out of what he wants to do. I laid the facts on the table and he did what he wanted to. Why does this upset you so much?" He asked me.

"My best friend joined the army. My younger brother's boyfriend joined the army. Look what it did to you." I got up and headed to the door. "I won't be home tonight." I slammed the door behind me and headed to the car.

I parked it across the street from Chris house. I pulled out my phone and called him.

"Miss me already?" He asked me.

"Can you talk for a minute?" I asked him.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Look out the window." He opened the front door and smiled.

"Come on?" I hung up the phone and disappeared. Slipped out the car door and headed right for him. "What's wrong baby?" He asked me again. He shut the door behind me.

"Did you know Chris joined the army?" I asked him.

"What?"

"That's why he didn't care about his grades or collage. He joined the fucking army. He's loves my fucking brother and joined the fucking army." I told him. He stopped me from pacing, pulled me to him and kissed my head.

"I'm sorry baby," He held me to him.

"He never even told me," He kissed my head again.

"Do you know how long he'll be gone?" I shook my head no. "Maybe you should talk to him before you get to mad at him." I pulled back and looked up at him.

"I don't want to."

"Baby it's Friday night, you'll have all night to talk to him."

"You don't want me here," He looked away from me.

"My parents aren't like yours."

"I don't care, I don't care about your parents. I care about you. Please."

"Alright, please don't take anything they say to heart." He said and we heard the garage door open. He walked me into his bedroom and shut the door.

"Why are you hiding?" I jumped and looked around. Diesel was standing in the corner.

"Shh," I told him.

"Why are you hiding?" He whispered. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. I stood next to him.

"His parents are home and they wouldn't like me here. I don't want to go home." He nodded.

"Then it's a good thing I had your car go home."

"Why are you here?" I asked him. He's been known to pop up around us. Just went our parents weren't around.

"Don't worry, you were the one who pulled me here. When your upset, you push out a lot of power." I looked up at him.

"Sorry," He just nodded.

"Incoming," He said and the door opened.

"I'm surprised, the house wasn't just cleaned yesterday." A woman who I thought was his mother. The door shut again.

"Reminds me of Steph's mother." Diesel said.

"How did you do that?"

"Just timed things right. Try to stay calm." I nodded and he was gone again. I moved onto the bed and waited. Throw out the night I heard some yelling. Then the door opened and Ricky wanted in.

"I don't like your parents." I told him.

"Now you know, why I don't care there never home. Your car's gone." He told me.

"Diesel took off with it. He likes to piss dad off." He kissed me and turned on his computer, then pulled me to him. I started to fall asleep when someone opened that door.

"Turn that down. It's late." Ricky did what he was told. "Did you hear me, I said turn it down. What's got into you?" The woman shirked.

"Know what, I've had enough." Ricky got up and pulled on his jacket. "You shouldn't even be here until next week. What's gotten into me, what's gotten into you?" He slipped his shows on and grabbed his bad.

"Where do you think you're going? I never said you could go somewhere?"

"I'm 18 and have been living on my own for three years. You really think I care what you think or say. But for you information, I'm going to the same place I've been going for most the last year." He said as he walked throw the house. He opened the side door of his car and put his bag in then waited for me. He got in and drove away.

"I don't want to go home." I told him.

"And I don't want to stay home." We didn't say anything the rest of the ride home. He parked in the garage and got out. I got out and followed him inside. I pulled back and walked up the stairs with him.

"Can we go to bed?" I asked him. He kissed me. I walked into the closet and changed. When I walked out his was in his in his underwear going throw the movies. Someone knocked on the door and opened it.

"I would put some clothes on, someone followed you." Peter said. I handed Ricky his pants. He put them on, took my hand and walked down stairs. My dad was opening the door.

"Can I help you?" He asked them.

"Our son is here." The woman said. Dad looked back and saw us.

"And you would be?" My dad asked them.

"Virginia and Edward Ballantine, who are you?" She asked him.

"Carlos Monaco, why would you believe your son is here?" He asked her.

"We followed him here." Ranger looked back at us again. He really didn't like that. Then moved aside and opened the door.

"This is my wife Stephanie, our youngest Emily and oldest Julia. I don't think I need to remind you who your son is." I looked back and saw mom put Emily on her feet and she went back up stairs. My dad shut the door and showed everyone to the library.

"It's nice to finely meet Ricky's parents," My mom said and sat down next to dad.

"Who are you and why is our son here?" Ricky's mother asked.

"I already told you who we were." My dad said.

"Ricky has an open invitation here whenever he wants to. We have room for him."

"You let a kid into your house, that you don't even know?" His dad finely asked.

"Julia I think it's late." My dad said. I took Ricky's hand and pulled him out with me. I closed the doors and picked Emily up.

"Sissy I was listening." I smiled at her.

"I know, do you want me to read to you?" She shook her head no.

"Mommy already did, I'm waiting for daddy's goodnight kiss." Ricky turned on a movie for her and I put her in the bed. Ricky pulled me out and sat on the top of the stairs.

"I didn't know they were following."

"Don't worry," He put his arm around me and waited. The living room door opened and I watched my dad show his parents out.

"I see why you don't care if there home or not. I'm sorry Ricky." My mom kissed him and headed into Emily's room. Dad leaned against the wall a few steps down from us.

"Your parents will be home for the next two weeks. The door is always open." He said, kissed my head and walked into Emily's room. I pulled Ricky up with me, and walked into my room. He took off his pants and got into bed with me.

"I love you." I told him.

"Baby your my life, I love you with everything I've got."

"Good, because if you didn't your powers would be kind of funny. All this time you haven't talked about your parents, they don't make you who you are." I told him.

"Oh god, I loved you baby." He kissed me.

"I love you also." He moved onto his back and pulled me onto him. I kissed his chest. I know I still had to talk to Chris. But for now. Life was perfect.


	26. Chapter 26

10 years have pasted and everything has changed in my life but one thing. I love and hate the same person with all of my heart. That is the only thing that hasn't changed in all these years.

Buzz

"Mr. Peterson your sister and boyfriend are here." I put my wallet back in my pocket.

"Send them in." I told her.

"Mr. Peterson your one o'clock is here?" She told me.

"This won't take long, send them in Samantha." I said and hung up the phone. I had enough time to get up before the door opened. Julia hugged me and kissed my check. Ricky gave me a quite hug.

"When did you get home?" I asked them.

"Yesterday, you work too much to even notice." Julia told me.

"I don't always work too much, I'm just trying to get a new ship in the water. You two work a lot also. Where were you this time?" I asked her. Ricky smiled at me.

"Paris," Ricky pointed to her boots. I looked at them.

"Do you even have room in your closet for more shoes, what is it with you and Sara." I shook my head.

"Yes I have room in my closet. Sara might not. But she has two closets to fill up." I smiled at her. "I might not be a mind reader, but I know something's wrong Peter." She asked me. I looked at Ricky then to her. She looked worried.

"Just busy."

"And we're taking up your time." Ricky said.

"How about dinner. My treat." I asked them.

"Sound good." Ricky helped Julia up. I came around and hugged them again.

"I'll get Sam to make us an reservation and call you." They walked out and I sat down. I picked up the phone and called Sam.

"Find us some where to eat and send in my one o'clock." I hung up. I was checking my emails when my door opened.

"Either you two really like the word no, or you're stupid. You know I won't help you." I told them before they could even sit down.

"Then you're looking at life in federal jail." I raised an eye brow and looked at them.

"You used your powers to build up your company. We have proof, are you going to help us? Or should we turn in what we know?" The other man asked me.

"You know all this about me and you haven't turned it in?" I asked them and leaned back in my chair. I listened to their thoughts for a second. "You came forward with all this, without any protection to your minds. Lesser supers have left without knowing who I was. What makes you think you won't either?" I asked them.

"Good faith, you've helped in the past." I shook my head.

"I've helped in the fast, because I didn't have a chose. I do here. My sister was sitting feet from you and still you came in here and asked me for help, why?"

"You're the only one who can do the job."

"Why?"

"In the next six months, someone is going to out us. We've limited down to three people. But we can't tell who it is or when they will do this." I shook my head.

"You should have went to my mother." They shook their heads.

"Your mother can change their minds shorty. You can make them forget they were even thinking it. You have more ability's to do what needs to be done them anyone."

"In the next six months someone is going to tell the world about supers. The government isn't going to take the new well and come after us. They will capture and in prison everyone. Then start to do tests on all of us."

"You are the only person who can help us." I rubbed my head. Reached my hand out, I watched them look at each other, then Landon sat forward and took my hand. In a split second I saw they were telling the truth.

"How do you want me to help?" I said and rubbed my forehead to clear it.

"We've already arranged for all three of them to be on the first voyage of your new cruse. You were planning on being there weren't you?" Clinton said.

"Yes I was." They smiled at me.

"A file will be waiting on the ship for you." They got up and headed to the door.

"I will do this, but you will forget everything about me. I won't be helping you again." I told them.

"You do this and we'll make everything look legal and real." They shut the door and were gone. Sam walked in a few minutes later. She sat down.

"They wanted you to help?" She asked me.

"And are blackmailing me to do it. Anyone else like them shows up, I'm not talking to them." She nodded. I looked her face over and just waited.

"Why won't you help them, you could really do some good?" She asked every time they showed up.

"There are others that are willing to help and well do what I won't. There are times I wish I never told you." She smiled at me.

"You didn't tell me, I asked you. I've been by your side for almost 8 years. I'm bound to notice, what you don't want me to." I shook my head at her.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" She nodded.

"Yes, I'll be joining you. Someone has to keep you in line. I do have a question?" I nodded and waited.

"Is it just you, or dose your family have gifts also?" She asked me. It's taken her years to finely come up and ask me.

"Yes my family has gifts also. Is that enough, or would you like to know what they are?" She looked away and was thinking about it.

"Would you tell me?" I waited till she looked at me.

"You know I can read minds and push thoughts. My dad can't be killed. He'll heal from anything that happens to him. My mom is an empathy and can manipulate peoples will. Julia can turn invisible, and can manipulate macula. Ricky can see anything, and hear anything. Sara can duplicate herself and can chance her appearance. Max knows everything. Lily is telekinetic and can teleport. Steven is fast and strong. Emily can senses other supers and absorb there powers." I told her.

"Ricky isn't part of the family?" She told me.

"No but he does have his own powers. Are you joining us for dinner?" I asked her. She shook her head no. Handed me some notes and got up.

"I have a date tonight. Don't be late." She smiled and left. I went back to my emails, when I was done, I turned everything off and left. Dinner was going to be different.

I was right, Julia had to make sure I was alright. As we left, I gave them an envelope. It had tickets to my next cruse. Then I headed home. When I walked into my house, I stopped. There were some frighten vies coming from somewhere.

I shut the door and locked it. Then followed the vies to my bathroom. I pushed the door opened slowly and saw Sam in the corning crying. I walked in and she moved back against the wall.

"Sam it's me," She couldn't hear me. I walked over to her and knelled down. "Sam?" I cupped her face and saw someone ruffed her up. "Samantha?" I brushed her hair out of her face.

"Peter," I picked her up and sat her on the counter. Grabbed a hand towel and got it wet. Then started wiping off her face.

"What happened love?" She shocked her head. When I was done washing off her face I cupped it and titled her face up to look me in the eyes. I saw everything that happened to her since she left the office. "Ah love I'm sorry."

"No," She started crying again. She didn't want me to know. I brushed her hair back. She looked away from me again. I picked her up and walked her out of the bathroom and into the spare room. I got her out of her clothes and a pair of my sweets and tee shirt. Put her under the covers and sat down in the corner.

She woke up a few times during the night. All I got from her was fear. As soon as she knew where she was, she would fall right back to sleep. The sun came up and she woke up for good. She pushed her hair out of her face and sat up.

"Please tell me you didn't sit there all night?" She asked me.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her. She got out of bed. We walked into the kitchen and she started cooking for us. "I didn't mean for you to cook." She looked back at me.

"You can't cook, go shower and change and when you get out I'll have everything ready." I looked her face over, then turned around and headed to my room. I did what she said. I showed and put some clothes on for the day. When I got back into the kitchen she was setting the table.

"I miss this. Why did I ever let you move out?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes at me.

"You didn't let me move out, you moved out remember. I'm still living in your penthouse. Why did you move out?" She asked me.

"Views better and all your boyfriends thought I was your husband or boyfriend." She smiled at me.

"You were always good at getting them to leave. Or spotting out the crazy's." Something pasted throw her thoughts.

"The guy who did this to you, knows where you live doesn't he." I asked her. She nodded her head and took a drink of her coffee. "You're not going back, I'll stop by and get you some things. You'll stay here." She looked up at me.

"I can't do that,"

"Sam for some reason you've stuck with me for over 8 years. You've seen me do a lot of things that I shouldn't be happy about. You make sure that my businesses are taken care of. The less I could do is make sure you're taken care of. Either you stay here, or I have a nice talk to your date?" I asked her. She took a few bits.

"Fine, but you have to do something for me?" She asked. I looked up at her and waited. I already knew what she was going to ask. "You have to take me out tonight. A real normal classy date. Plus a charity event." She got up and walked out of the kitchen. When she walked back in she sat an invitation down in front of me.

"I'll get your things and you got get that dress your been thinking about. Are you going to want me to give money to this thing?" She smiled and shook her head no.

"But you can ask a few people to do it for you." I nodded and let out my breath. What I would do for this woman. She acted just like Sara when she got what she wanted. Happy and bouncing, when we were done eating I cleaned up and she went to dress. I waited at the door for her.

"Do you have anything to wear tonight?" I nodded and opened the door. She put her arms around mine and let me walk her down.

"Why have you stayed with me?" She looked up at me.

"You're the prefect boss. Everyone does thing they might not me proud of, but you never hurt anyone. Alright, well you don't hurt people who don't have it coming. You're also my best friend." I smiled down at her.

"You also can get me to do things like this."

"This is just fun. Dressing up and making rich people give their money away for a good case. Also you've never once tried to get into my pants." We laughed together as we walked out of the building and hailed a taxi.

"Do you have money?" I asked her. She nodded, kissed my check and got in. I watched her drive away and walked down the street to her penthouse.

"If you keep sending people to me, I'm going to make you forget me." I said, Diesel moved next to me.

"I know you would help, once you listened. Your powers advanced father then anyone would have thought. I have to keep asking myself why you won't allowed us to know you." He asked me.

"Because I don't want you to know how far my powers have advanced. I didn't want anyone to know I had them. That's your doing." He laughed at me.

"I just gave you a little push, everyone in your family got gifts. They were worried why you didn't." I shook my head. "How far have your powers advanced?" He asked me.

"Have you figured out what Emily's is yet?" I looked at him.

"No, but she's protected closely by your parents. I'll share if you share?" He told me.

"I already know all your tricks, coming up?" I asked him and walked into the building. We went up to the pent house and walked inside.

"I never understood why you would leave a place like this." He said looking around.

"The view sucks." He followed me throw the house and into Sam's room.

"Why are you against everything?" He asked me.

"I'm not,"

"Then why can't you ever answer a question of mine?"

"Ask me what you want to know?" I told him as I packed a bag for Sam.

"You can hear thoughts, push thoughts anything else?" He asked me.

"You already have been told I can see thoughts. What more do you want to know?" I asked him. I grabbed her suit case and put some suits in it for her.

"How far has your powers advanced?" He asked again. I looked back at him and saw he was sitting on the bed thinking.

"I can't control what I see. But I can control who I see it from. At first, if I touch someone I saw everything. For whomever long I touched them." I told him.

"You're hiding something," He told me. I looked back at him again and saw he was looking throw Sam's diary.

"Why would you think that?" He looked up at me.

"Your very powerful, but I don't understand why your against helping us out or letting supers know your one also."

"I'm against working with any sort of government. The only reason I'm helping or are helping is because you black mail me to. I wouldn't have anything to do with you if I could. I'm very powerful, but for myself." I zipped everything up and went into the bathroom.

"So your hiding another power aren't you?" He asked me. I looked back at him.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" I asked him.

"Why don't you want to tell me so bad?" He asked me. I took a deep breath and showed him what my last power was. I changed the bathroom into a beach.

"Shit," He said as he looked around. It fell after a few minutes. "You can crate illusion?" He asked me.

"It's new and hard to control." He waited till I was done, then took one of the bags and walked out with me.

"All your powers come from your mind. Makes me wonder how far your powers will advance?" He asked me.

"Why are you so stuck with my powers?" He smiled at me.

"I want to know everything there is to know about your whole family powers. You're the first people to be given your powers. You know what Emily's power is don't you?" He asked me.

"Yes, there better than mine and for some reason my parents don't want you to know. Why would that be?" I asked him.

"Are they dangerous?" He asked me.

"No, and if they were, I wouldn't tell you." He nodded and I could hear everything he's thinking. "You haven't been able to catch her using her powers have you? Not once in all these years." I laughed at him.

"Each one of you have showed your powers to me in one way or another, but I can't get anything from her?" I nodded and know she would never show another super unless she wanted to.

"She has nothing to show you, that's why you can't find anything." I told him. He looked at me.

"What do you mean, you told me she had a power."

"She does, but not for you to see unless she trust you. Coming up?" I asked when we stopped in front of my building. He handed me the bag.

"I'll be there to brief you." He turned and walked away. I nodded to the doorman and walked inside.

"Mr. Peterson," I walked over to the desk.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"There was a man asking about Ms. Daniels. Right after you left this morning." I nodded at him.

"What did you tell him?" I asked.

"What you told me to. That she was your wife." I nodded,

"If you see him again, call me." I gave him a tip and saw what happened this morning. He didn't look like a nice guy. I headed up stairs and let myself into my apartment.

"You really think I need all that?" Sam asked.

"Your boyfriend followed you here." She took one of the bags and showed me what room she was going to take. Then took the bathroom bag and walked into the bathroom.

"What was the run around this time?" She asked me.

"Husband like normal." She smiled at me.

"No wonder you never get a date. All your door men think I'm your wife. Am I staying here, or moving in here?" She asked me.

"That's your choice." I said and walked out of her room and into mine.

"Peter I didn't mean it like how it sounded." She followed me.

"What?"

"You hate it when I bring up your sex life. I didn't mean what I said like that. If you don't want to go tonight, that's fine." She told me. I walked over to her and kissed her head.

"Going out tonight isn't a problem love." She looked up at me.

"I wonder who that man was who hurt you so much that you can't find someone else." She asked me. I looked sideways and showed her who that man was.

"When you love and hate someone so much, you can't move on." She looked the illusion over.

"Young," She gave me a look.

"That was 10 years ago." The illusion was gone and she looked up at me.

"Sorry,"

"You have nothing to be sorry about love. He made the choses he made. You better go get ready before it gets too late." She turned and skipped out.


	27. Chapter 27

I took a beautiful woman out to dinner and a charity even. We had a fun evening. Both of us picked people and got them to give up their money. Then grabbed a taxi and headed home. I helped her out of the taxi and was listening to the thoughts around us.

"Your boyfriend is very upset right now." I told her. She looked up at me and saw fear.

"Peter no," She shook her head. I walked her over to Jeff.

"Will you walk Samantha in for me?" I asked him. He took my tip and put her arm around his and walked inside with her. I put my hand in my coat and walked down the street to the thoughts I could hear.

"You ruffed her up pretty good," I said and leaned against the wall. "I don't take that behavior very well." I looked over at him.

"Why are you talking to me man?" I smiled.

"Because you've been flagged at my building. I know you were the one who ruffed her up. Do you think you can hurt woman just because you fell like it?" I asked him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I looked him in the eyes.

"You'll forget who Samantha is. You never dated her, you never touched her and you don't know where she lives." I told him.

"What am I doing here?" He asked me.

"Talking to me?" I asked him. He looked around, then turned and walked away. I pushed off the wall and walked inside. Sam was waiting for me.

"Thank you Jeff." He passed Sam to me and I walked her to the elevator.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"Just gave him little push to forget you. Nothing more," She leaned her head against my shoulder and smiled.

"I'm sorry I lead him here." She told me.

"Shit happens, did you have fun tonight?" I asked her. She smiled up at me.

"Yes, I also noticed you slipped someone an envelope. You gave them money didn't you?"

"Yes," She rolled her eyes.

"This is why I never take you anywhere. You always hand out money. Where are you going to make up that money from?" She asked me.

"I'm selling your penthouse. Too many people know where you live. You can find someplace else to live." I told her.

"Any place I want?" She asked me. I unlocked the door and walked in. She looked at me and waited.

"Within reason." She hug up her jacket and walked away from me. I hung up mine and followed her. "Sam?" She looked back at me and smiled.

"You're the one who brought my things here. I don't like living alone. So I'll move in here, in about a year you'll get bored and move out." She told me. I pulled her to me and kissed her head.

"Night." She smiled at me and waved me off. I got undressed and got into bed. I was almost asleep when I felt someone move into the bed with me. I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. She snuggled up on my chest.

Thank you I couldn't sleep. She thought at me.

"Anytime love." I told her. Just like that she fell asleep. I followed her and feel asleep also.

"Peter," Someone yelled. I rolled over and pulled my pillow over my head.

"Peter wake up," Sam told me. She pulled away the pillow. "Do you still want to go on this cruise?" She asked me.

"Later, I own the ship. I'll tell it when to leave." She hit me with the pillow.

"You need to do the walk throw and talk to the staff and get up." She told me. I rubbed my face and sat up.

"You could do all that?" She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. I pushed the sheet away and got up.

"Is your bag packed?" She asked. I pointed to it as I walked to the bathroom. After showering and getting dressed for all the meeting I was about it have I walked out. Sam gave me a cup of coffee.

"You wake me up and don't feed me?" She handed me everything I would need for the day. Turned me around and walked me to the door. She pulled on her coat and handed me mine. I pulled it on and opened the door. I grabbed our bags and followed her down.

"You're too happy," I told her.

"7 day's and night, on one of the best ships and everything else there is to do." She told me. When we got outside there was a car waiting for me. Jeff took our bags and put them in. I opened the door and helped Sam in. I tipped Jeff then got in the car and shut the door.

"What meetings do I have?" She pulled out a date book from her purse and showed me.

"Well get through them as fast as we can." She told me.

What she didn't know is everyone had something to say or ask. Finely we were showed to my suite. I looked at Sam, she looked around.

"Thank you," She said and walked away. I tipped the men and shut the door.

"Sam?"

"I gave my room up to your sister. They had them down a few floors. I remember your last suite was much bigger?" She asked me.

"I didn't want to stay in the other suites. Thank you for watching out for my sister." She smiled and waved me over.

"Door," I told her as I was unpacking. She gave me a look and walked over to it. She opened it as someone knocked.

"Sara?" Julia said.

"I hate when you do that, he's in there." She moved aside for them to walk in.

"There's a problem with our room." Julia said as she sat on the bed. I looked back at them and saw they were looking at Sam.

"What's the problem?" I asked them.

"We don't have one, someone is trying to understand it. But I didn't want to wait, so we came up here to you."

"Where's your bags?" Sam asked them.

"Down stairs, they will take them to our room when they find it." Ricky told her. Can I talk to you alone? He asked me.

"Sam why don't you take Julia and get the problem fixed." I said and the girls walked out. I looked at Ricky and waited.

"Will you hold this for me?" Ricky handed me a box. I took it, and waited for more of expiation. He brushed his hair back. "She'll find it if I keep it in our room. One of these nights, I'm going to ask her to marry me again." I smiled at him. Put the box in the top drool.

"She didn't say no last time." He nodded.

"But she couldn't say yes. You couldn't even say maybe. I want the maybe more than the yes. That's her yes to me." He said.

"I understand. Give me a heads up and I'll give it back." He nodded and sat down. "What's up with Sam?"

"She gave up her room for you guys. It's not what either of you are thinking." He nodded.

"Julia's going to think it anyways. She's been waiting for you to move on. Everyone's been waiting for you to move on." I nodded to him. "But I do understand why you haven't; if Julia did the same thing I wouldn't be able to either."

"I've moved on," I told him.

"No you haven't. I don't know if you still love him, but you still have feeling for him. If she doesn't say yes again, should I worry?" He asked me.

"You want me to openly read my sister?" I looked at him and folded my arms.

"No I'm asking you as her brother should I be worried. We've been together for more than 10 years. Should I worry if she doesn't say yes?" I thought about it.

"I'll read her," I went back to unpacking.

"Ricky your room is across the hall," Sam said, she was thinking of a problem that she had to go fix. They left and closed the door behind them. I walked outside and closed my eyes.

"She's pretty."

"Not what you think?" She was thinking that maybe I wasn't gay and I've found my soul mate.

"Then what is this?" She asked, I looked and saw her holding up a box. I saw that I left the droll open. I looked her in the eyes and started listening to her thoughts. Then there was nothing.

"What did you do?"

"Nice trick, isn't it. I'll just put this back." She put the box back and pushed in the drool. Kissed my check and walked out of the room. I turned back around and closed my eyes.

"Should I ask?" Diesel asked me.

"My sister is crazy," He moved over to me and handed me a folder.

"You already knew that. This is everything you need to know. Two men and a woman. One is human and two are supers." I nodded and opened the folder.

"You even have their room numbers," He smiled at me.

"I know people, there is a list of places you'll be able to find them where they will be alone. All you have to do is plant thoughts in each of their minds that they will never want to out supers." He told me.

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Sam asked. I caught Diesel before he could move.

"Sam this is Diesel, Diesel this is my personal assent." I told them.

"Back to what I said, why would anyone want to do that?" She asked us.

"They don't know that they will do it, or what will happen because of what they do." She bit her lip.

"But they would have to know that they can't do that."

"Someone slipped up, it wasn't like they went out and said there are super beings living among humans. Everyone slips sometime in their life." She nodded and looked back up at me.

"You slip,"

"If I knew you couldn't live with knowing, you wouldn't know."

"She knows?" Diesel asked me.

"She's worked by my side for more than 8 years. My mother knew you were a super the first minute you showed up in her life. Should I go on?"

"This is what happens. One person knows and shit hits the fan. If I didn't know better I would use this to make you come forward." Diesel told me.

"Diesel,"

"I didn't see or hear anything." He said and held up his hands. I nodded and held out my hand to him. He looked at it for a minute and took it. He showed me everything I needed to know about this job. But I pushed deeper. When I got what I needed I let go of his hand.

"Just remember Diesel you don't know everything about me. I hid my gifts for a reason. For one minute if I think Sam is in danger because she knows about supers, what you hold dear will be in danger. I'm not playing around and I don't care to push the line." He took a step away from me.

"I already told you I didn't see or hear anything." I nodded to him and he was gone.

"You're protecting me?" Sam asked me.

"Someone needs to, love. Julia thinks I'm going to propose to you." She made a face and started laughing.

"You're gay," She told me like I didn't know. I held up a box for her. She walked over and opened it. Her eyes grow. "Peter your gay."

"I know love, its Ricky's and my sister is noise. Just giving you a heads up." She put the box back and let me read throw the file.

"Can I watch?" She asked me.

"We'll see, did you get everything worked out?" She nodded and unpacked. Then grabbed a dress she packed and walked into the bathroom. When I was done with the file I knew when I was going to hit each person. I walked into the bathroom.

"Just shower," She told me. She was wrapped up in a towel and doing her hair. I got undress and got into the shower.

"How much am I going to have to work throw this curies?" I asked her.

"There might be some problems that might come up. But you're done working now." She told me. I turned off the water and wrapped up in a towel.

"Are you going to be alright with Julia and Ricky joining us for dinner?" I asked her. She looked at me throw the mirror.

"I'm here to work with you, you invited them for other reason. You should ask them if they are alright with me joining you." She told me. I took that in and walked out of the bathroom. She walked out as I was getting dressed.

"Could you get into trouble for me knowing about you and your family?" She asked me. She slipped on her dress and turned her back to me. I zipped her up.

"If I cared, I could. There have been supers throw out our time. Just remember I don't care. Diesel made himself very close to my family when he found out that we were supers. He doesn't like that I won't share my gifts with him."

"Why don't you?"

"The more he knows the more he thinks I'm willing to help." She looked back at me.

"Why don't' you help?"

"I'm against governments. That's why I don't care to use my powers for my own will. They find out, blackmail me and fix what I've done." I shrugged at her and pulled on my jacket.

"Why?"

"That's a story for another time." She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse. I opened the door for her and walked out. I knocked on Julia's door and waited. Julia opened the door and walked out. Ricky shut the door and took her arm. Sam put her arms around mine and we lead them to the grand dining room.

"The captain wanted you to speck." She told me. I looked down at her. "But I let him know that it wouldn't happen. Why are you so against specking?" She asked me.

"Because I can do a lot with my voice, I would rather not slip up." She rolled her eyes.

"So it has nothing to do with your age?"

"That love could be right also. 25 and owning everything I do, raise some question." I pulled out a chair for her. Then sat down also. Julia's mind was going crazy.

"Either pull that trick or shut up." I told her. She made a face and did what I asked. Ricky put his arm behind her and smiled at me. The captain got up and said some nice things, and then dinner was brought out. I ordered a bottle of wine.

"What's going to happen on this cruse?" Julia asked me.

"It will make one stop at any three islands. Besides that, have fun on a ship. This is the biggest and luscious ship I have. I made it more for couples or single adults. There are a few places for children, but not many." I told them.

"If you can think about it, it should be here?" Sam said. Julia took most of dinner to ask if we had it. What she really liked was that you could go shopping.


	28. Chapter 28

I was enjoying my win, thinking about the shopping I could do. When something caught my eye. A man in black was standing next to one of the doors. He looked like he could be security. But there wasn't anyone else around.

I was listening to Max and Sara talking. But I was watching the man. One thing I've learned while working security was to trust my gut. He scanned the room, when he noticed I was watching him. He looked me right in the ears. I knew at once, who he was. And he knew that I knew who he was. He turned and walked out of the dining room. I pushed my chair back.

"Baby?" Ricky asked me.

"Sorry I just need to use that bathroom." He nodded and let me walk away. I walked out of the door he just walked out. When I knew no one was watching, I broke in a run. When I past a corner I saw him, he was still walking away.

"Chris." I called out. He slowed but didn't stop. I held out my hand and put up a shield in front of him. He hit it and stopped. I slowed down and walked over to him. "Chris," I said again. He turned around and faced me.

"Julia," He said right back. 10 years sure did make him grow up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Working." I started laughing. Then I saw he was telling the truth.

"Working on this ship, I know you're not ship security. So please explain what your job is on this ship." He looked down at me.

"What are you doing on this ship and how do you know I'm not security?"

"Because Mr. Peterson the owner would not have hired you. One because of who you are and two because you've worked with a government. You also aren't wearing a name tag, should I go on. I don't have to explain anything to you."

"And I don't have anything to explain to you." He said and turned around. He hit my force field again.

"I still have a promise to make up to you. I told you that if you ever hurt my brother I would hurt you. While we're on this ship, there isn't much I can do. But if I see you again, I will. Stay away from my family. Whatever you're doing here, keep that away from my family also." I turned around and walked away. When I walked around the corner I put the field down.

I smiled once I hit the dining room and walked back over to the table. Ricky was watching me closely. I leaned over and kissed him. I know he was watching me. I would talk to him later. I picked up my glass and took a drink.

"We're going to head in early, thank you for dinner Peter." Ricky said.

"Don't thank me," I let Ricky help me up. I kissed Peter on the check and let Ricky walk me out.

"Who did you run after?" Ricky asked once we were out of the dining room.

"A long lost friend." He stopped us and looked down at me.

"He's here?" I nodded and started walking again.

"He doesn't know Peter's here, that's a good thing. Peter's finely moving on." I was pissed off. Ricky held me close and walked us back to our room. He opened the door and walked me in.

"You want to know where he is?" Ricky asked me as I slipped off my shoes. I looked up at him and he was leaning against the closed door.

"Do you know?" He folded his arms and nodded. "You don't want me to, why?"

"Because I see how hurt you are over this. I've seen how hurt you've been over him not being in your life. I'll tell you where he is, but you can't do anything." I thought about it and stood up.

"This should have been a really romaine week." He came over to me and kissed me.

"It will be," He pulled back and let me get dressed. He handed me a ear piece. I put it in my ear and disappeared. He opened the door and walked out. I slipped out behind him and walked back down the hallway.

"You'll walked to go down four floors." He told me. It stopped at a map and did what he said.

"Baby, we'll go shopping tomorrow." Ricky said when he knew I stopped in front of a store window. I started walking again and followed his directions. I ended up on the deck outside. Slowly I made my way over to Chris. He was leaning against the railing smoking.

I stood there watching him. He looked at his watch more times than I thought he would need to.

"In coming." Ricky said.

"You're late." Chris said.

"Your early, why did you call me here?" I took a step back.

"I'm here to watch one super; you did not inform me there were more than one here." Chris said.

"Your job is to watch and keep that one super in line. No one else matters. You know your job, do your job."

"How many are on this ship?" Chris asked, but he got in the other man's face.

"Two don't matter you to. One is here to do a job, that will include your mark and another. You will stay out of his way to do his job."

"You pulled me here, gave me almost no information and think that will fly. Diesel you know me better than that. Give me one good reason why I should walk away now?" Chris asked him.

"The man you're watching could bring the super's world crashing down. Keep your man in line, that's all. No one else matters." Diesel said. But I could see he was looking over to where I was.

"Fine a new lap dog." Chris flicked his smoke over the side, walked passed me and inside.

"Start yelling now, I can feel you from here." Diesel said. I pulled back and punched Diesel in the face. "What the hell was that for?" He asked as he rubbed his jay. He looked around waiting for me to show myself.

"Your still here Julia."

"Show yourself if you want, your safe." Ricky told me. I showed myself.

"I don't even know how I trusted you." I told him.

"I'm very trust worthy." He said and was still rubbing his face.

"You're blackmailing my brother, into working for you. Couldn't you just get the hint that he doesn't want anything to do with you? And when he finds out about this," I shook my head.

"About what?" He asked.

"Peter's never told you why he won't work for you or any other government has he. If I were you, don't tell him who your lap dog is and you better make fucking sure he doesn't see him while he's cleaning up your dirty work. You sure are a bastered." I shook my head and walked away from him.

"Julia," He called after me.

"What,"

"You should ask your brother what he's cleaning up. Because it's not my mess." I pulled opened the door and followed Ricky's directions back to our room. He opened the door and pulled me to him.

"I'm sorry baby."

"I really wish my powers were dangerous." He kissed my head.

"No you don't baby, I love you."

"I love you also Ricky."

Sam was watching them walk away and she was worried. I took a drink of my wine and waited for her to ask.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked. I filled up her glass.

"No something else is bothering her. Ready to turn in?" I asked her. She took a drink and thought about it.

"No, let's take a walk." I got up and she handed me my wine glass. Put her arm around mine and lead me where she wanted to go. We walked out on the main desk.

"You really did something different with this ship." She told me.

"And it was cheap." She laughed with me. As we were walking around, music started playing. Now I understood why she wanted to come out here. I took our drinks and sat them on a table, then pulled her in front of me.

"If you wanted to dance all you had to do was ask." I told her. She let me lead her over the floor.

"Do you know how hard it is to find a boyfriend like you? Why do all the good guys have to be gay?" She said. I looked down at her and smiled.

"Not all of them are, give it some time and you'll find out who you're looking for." We danced a few songs, and then I lead her off the floor.

"Now I'm ready to go to bed,"

We walked into our room and got ready for bed. We've sleep together many times. It doesn't bother me at all, but every time. Her mind works around if she should be doing this or not. When she's done, I pulled her to me and fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up and rolled over. Sam wasn't there. I opened my eyes and looked around. There sitting on a chair outside was Sam. She was holding a cup of coffee looking at the ocean. I got up and leaned against the door frame.

"Been awake long?" I asked her.

"The sun comes up really early." I nodded and saw the folder sitting on the table next to her. She looked up at me and saw what I was looking at. "That's very detailed." She said.

"Happened with your working with supers. Tonight, I'm going to have to disappear for a few minutes." She picked up the folder and read throw it. She held up a picture, of who I was going to push tonight.

"Is that who you're going to find tonight?" She asked me. I flipped the page over and pointed out the time and place. "Why did you pick that one?" She asked me.

"I can be hidden while I read his thoughts. If I need to know more all I have to do is bump into him. Then push the thought into his head. Tomorrow I'll do this man. Same kind of thing. On day four I'll do the woman. She's not a super, but knows about us." I told her as I was pointing everything out.

"You need my help on that one don't you?" She asked me.

"Yes, I was going to talk to you about that. You did say you wanted to watch." Her face light up.

"Tell me more later. What did you want to do today?" She asked me.

"What," I started and looked back at the door. I turned around and opened the door. Julia was standing there with her arms folded. I couldn't hear what she was thinking, but I did know she was pissed off. Then she started tapping her foot.

"You're working?" She asked me.

"That shouldn't be surprising, I won the ship and its first curies. There's bound to be times where I'm needed and fix things." I told her. She glared at me.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Throw the door I heard Ricky's thoughts.

We had a visit from Diesel. I looked back down to Julia. Moved aside and let her walk in. I saw Sam look back at us.

"Yes, I'm working. But you'll never know I'll be gone or what I'm doing. Why does this upset you so much?" I asked her.

"Because you should have to do this. They black mail you, I hate this." She started pacing.

"I know, but they did find a very good thing to black mail me with. It's three short things, it's needed Julia." She glared at me.

"You're not the only mind reader out there. Why do they have to come to you?"

"Because I can be blackmailed, I only help when I can't say no. This time is one of them."

"What is so important?" She said and throw her hands up. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop, then pushed pictures into her head. She gasps and tied to pull away. I held onto her and let her see why I took the job.

"Oh god, who would do that?"

"That's what I'm going to make sure doesn't happen. Are you better now?" I asked her.

"Don't ever do that again." She hugged me.

"Just a tease of what I can do, Sam just asked what we were going to do?" I asked her.

"Swimming, shopping and eating." Julia asked and looked over at Sam.

"Sound fun, I know a great place to eat." Julia said she would be ready in a minute.

"Did you bring money?" I asked Sam. She got up and came inside. I waited for her to answer. She put the folded on the table. She grabbed some things and walked into the bathroom. I smiled and shocked my head. I grabbed the envelope out of my suit case, when she walked out I slipped it into her wrap. Then walked into the bathroom and changed myself.

"Peter?" She questioned me.

"That's your bounce, have fun shopping with it." I said as I walked out.

"This is a lot of money."

"You did the math on how much money this will bring me in. That is just a little, compared to that." She thought about it. Then hugged me.

"You want me to carry this around with me?" I pointed to her purse, then pulled on my shirt. She was putting her money away. We slipped a pair of shoes on, she handed me my wallet and sun glasses.

"What will I ever do without you?" I asked as we walked out.

"Go belly up," She laughed. Julia was standing in the door way to her room with her mouth open. "Coming?" Sam asked as she walked away. We followed her to this really nice outside dinner. We ordered and waited for our food.

"I never got the story about how you two meet?" Julia asked. I gave her a look.

"I put an ad in the newspaper." I told her. Her mouth dropped opened again.

"I was working for this jerk, but he paid better than most. When I had enough, I started checking for a new job. I read throw the paper almost everyday. I saw Peter's add and called him. I couldn't believe this high school kid wanted to hire a personal assistant. But he paid even better and I actual have a job to do." Sam told her.

"You had a personal assistant in high school?" Ricky asked me.

"Never wonder where Mr. Peterson came from. I started my company the summer before my last year of high school. When I got over loaded with both, I started looking for someone to help. That's where Sam came into play. After school I moved to New York." I shrugged.

"Did dad know?"

"I don't know, but he did do the back ground check on Sam for me. If he did, he didn't say anything about it."

"Why did you get into curse?" Ricky asked me.

"We went on one when I graduated, I liked it and worked towards owning one."

"What does you company do?" Julia asked.

"It works in a few different fields. The building that you came to see Peter is his." They looked at her then me.

"What I get bored," I shrugged.

"He started out just playing around with the stock market. That lasted almost two years. Then moved onto law, I think that mostly came into play. Because we got sued. That only lasted long enough for him to know everything about it. Marking was next, that turned into owning an magazine. That's when he got into cruises. He's been doing that ever scenic. But bought out an travel agencies." Sam told them.

"In 10 years you've been throw 7 different jobs?" Ricky asked.

"I still own all of them, I would have more money now. But I bought each business with my own money. I might do some pushing, but I still play them what it should be worth." I told them.

"How do I not know all of this about you?"

"You work all around the world, come home for holidays and that's it." I shrugged at her.

"How many ships do you own?" Ricky asked.

"This is number three. The first one is a little smaller than this one, it's for families. Packed full of fun. The second one is able half this size, it's mostly a dentation ship. You're off the ship more than on it. Then this one." Sam told them.

"This took me the longest and cost most then the other two. I'll give it some time to make me my money back, before I move on. I don't know what I'm going to do next." I told them and thought about it.

"What's left to do?"

"Don't say that, I did once and it wasn't pretty." Sam made face. Our food came and we started eating.

"What happened?"

"He bought a book stories and locked himself in it. That's when he took up marking. Never understood why."

"You own a book store?" Ricky asked.

"I sold it after I was done with it. Sam ran the numbers and it would have went under within 6 months. Not worth keeping." I said to them. They just looked at me like I lost my mind.

"You're more than an personal assistant, aren't you?" Julia asked her.

"Yes and no," Sam said and shrugged.

"She's as close to a partner as she'll allow herself to be. We set it up so every time I've moved on, there's someone to make sure everything runs how I want it. She over looks everything for me also." I told them.

"That's a lot for one person to do,"

"You watched me working, it's really not a lot." Sam told them.

"We set it up so there isn't a lot for either of us to do. We tried it another way and couldn't get anything else done. Now are we done talking about my business, because I would like to go swimming?" I left a tip on the table as we walked away.

"Why are they so surprised?" Sam asked me.

"I don't talk about my business." I told her. She gave me a look. The girls found a set of chairs, We took off our over clothes and get into the pool. It was fun and we all played around. When the girls were done swimming, we got out. They went off to do some shopping. Ricky and I sat down.

"Why don't you talk about your business?" He asked me. A woman came over and asked if we needed anything. We gave her our drink orders.

"There are times where I use my gifts to get me what I want. I don't want to explain that. You guys haven't asked either."

"Your mom does the same thing." I nodded, he was right.

"I don't like or want to boost. Before I took this ship on I was pretty well off. Maybe even more so off them dad." Our drinks came.

"Are you going to leave things like they are now, or are you going to go into a new field?" He asked me.

"I don't know, I want to make back my money before I go into anything to big. But that's not hard if I do it my way. Sam would rather I wait. We've been working on this ship to long and both could use a brake."

"If you weren't gay would things be different between you two?" I smiled.

"Most already think there is more between us. Sam has a way of dating crazy's, when that happens the door man tell them she's my husband. She also makes me go to all kinds of evens, on top of that we live together." I told him.

"You live together?" He couldn't believe that.

"At first it was because I wouldn't let her live where she was. Throw out the years I've moved out and moved her back in with me. If I wasn't gay I don't think she wouldn't be working with me. She makes sure my business runs and I make sure she's safe."

"You have feeling for her thought don't you?"

"We've been together a long time. But it's nothing more than sisterly love. I would have made her a partner year ago if she would let me. But she already thinks I do too much for her. It's only a matter of time, she'll see it my way."

"Have you ever pushed her?" I nodded at him.

"A few times to save her from hurt. Not before asking her first. When she noticed I had gifts she didn't care. Still doesn't, she's seen me pull off some thinks that would be questionable. Never walked away from working with me. She does ask to use them sometimes." He looked at me.

"What?"

"Her way of thinking is, if I can take I should give. That's doesn't mean I should give, I should have other people do it for me." He looked over at the pool.

"That is a good use of your gift. If I didn't know better I wouldn't believe you guys weren't together."

"That woman could get me to do anything. She's a mix between all the women in the family. If I could change who I was I would."

"You're in love with her," I looked at him. "I know you don't love her like I love Julia, but you're in love with her aren't you."

"I already told you that."

"No you tried to explain that you love her like family. It's more than that. For a mind reader, you really don't know how to read your own. You give each other everything beside a sexually relationship." He told me.

"Ricky what are you talking about."

"You two give each other everyone two people would in a couple besides sex. Then you work together and do the same thing there. Whether you want to believe it or not, you're in a relationship with her." He took a drink and smiled at the thought.

"This makes you happy why?"

"You've moved on," He said and looked over at me. I gave him a look and raised an eye brow. "Just listen to me for a minute. I know you might not have moved on to be ready for another love relationship. But you moved on enough to love someone else." He told me.

"That's never been my problem."

"Then why haven't you," He couldn't find the right words.

"Ricky if I ever meet someone, there isn't anything holding me back. The problem is that I haven't wanted to meet anyone. I can move on, I chose not to. Not because I'm waiting. I stopped waiting a long time ago. I just chose not to find someone." He nodded at me.

"Can I ask when you stopped waiting?" I sat forward and brushed my hair back.

"I gave him the amount of time he asked for. He told me he would be back in two years, he wasn't and that's when I started up my company. I stayed for another year. Then I left. Like you and Julia I only come back when I'm asked. I've made a life in New York."

"What do you mean you stayed another year? You were still in school."

"By my chose, I stayed in school when I didn't need to. Because of my gifts I can use more of my brain. Unlike Max I don't know everything, but I know a lot." He just looked at me.

"Are you telling me your super smart?" I shook my head.

"Just can us more of my brain. The more I progress, the more brain I open up and can use. Are you trying to tell me in 10 years yours haven't progressed?" I asked him.

"Yes but not like that." I gave him a look. "Seeing somehow moved into hearing. I don't know how they it will grow any more than it has."

"If it does it will be a surprise. Mine always is."

"How much has yours?"

"A lot, but it's all in the mind. I really don't know where it can go from here. I really don't want to think about where it will go from here. I'm still trying to work on my last advance."

"What was it?"

"I can create illusion. It only for a short time frame and the size of a small room, for right now." He just looked at me.

"That's cool,"

"What are you guys talking about." Julia asked. Her and Sam sat down.

"Where's your bags?" Ricky asked her.

"They will be in our room by the time we get there. That was a very smart thing to come up with Sam."

"It also saves on bags or boxes. Plus you don't have to carry things around all the time. So what are we going to do next?" She asked.

"Let check out that hot tub," Julia asked. They got up and walked away.

"Is it a good thing or bad thing they're getting along?" I asked Ricky.

"I can't tell yet." We got up and followed them. It was the size of a small pool. It also snack around the front of the ship. We picked a set that over looked the front.

"You put boots on a boat?" Julia asked me.

"I had nothing to do with what was in the stores." I put my arm behind Sam and let her lean back against it.

"Who did?"

"Me, Peter had a say in most of the ship. But knows nothing about shopping or food. So I got together with the two people he put in charge of everything and planned what would go in the ship." Sam told her and was kicking her feet.

"We should be asking you, what there's to do?" Ricky asked her.

"If you want to shop or eat. Peter did the rest." She was bouncing. Then saw something and stood up. I put my arm around her and pulled her on my lap. She let me then looked over the side.

"You put in a climbing wall?" Julia asked when she turned around and looked at the same thing.

"Four, the deck below has a wake pool instead of a hot tub." They looked around and found it. Got up, grabbed us and pulled us there. Sam sat across my lap and put her feet on their intertube. Julia did the same.

"What other cool things did you put in?" Julia wanted to know

"There's a lot to do, we have seven day's to find out everything that there is to do. But from what I remember there is a club?" I asked Sam.

"There's a few different ones and I know just how to bump us to the front of any lines. Only if you want to go?" She asked when she wasn't so sure.

"And how is that?" Julia wanted to know.

"The owner we'll get us in." Sam smiled down at me.

"Then we have to go, Sam how old are you?" Sam looked over at Julia.

"Oh I'm your age. I was 21 when I started working with Peter." Sam told her, but she was trying to understand why they wanted to know that. I rubbed her back to try and calm her down.

"You must have been really bright and good at your job." I gave Julia a look.

"She didn't mean it how that sounded." Ricky said. Julia looked around and hit her forehead.

"Sorry, I really didn't mean it how it came out. I just meant at such a young age you must have been very good at your job for Peter to hand over his company to you. It still isn't coming out right."

"She's trying to tell you she's impressed of you love." Sara nodded.

"Thank you, but he didn't just hand everything over to me. We spend most of his last school year trying to learn how to work together. Still we don't always work good together. He wants it done his way, I find the middle line and he doesn't want to look at it." Sam told them.

"Reminds me of dad. Is Sam to you what mom is to dad?"

"Yes, that's what I was looking for. I know what mom has done to dad's business and I wanted the same thing. That's why I've offered Sam a partnership from almost the begging. Without her I wouldn't have a business." Sam looked down at me.

"You mean that?"

"Do you know Peter to say things he doesn't mean?" Ricky asked her. I wiped the tears off her checks.

"I think it's time to talk about something different." Julia said and they started talking about everything they had in common. When it started getting dark, we grabbed out things and headed to our rooms. Sam showed and started getting ready while I showed.

As I was getting ready, I put on my watch and set the timer. Sam walked out of the bathroom in a sexy little dress.

"I'm going to have to beat guys away from you tonight love." She smiled at me.

"Sure you will, but thank you anyways. I like your sister," She told me.

"She likes you also," She came over and fixed my shirt and hair. I slipped my wallet in my pocket and opened the door for her. I knocked on their door and waited.

"Do you think you'll be long?" She asked me.

"No, it should only take me a few minutes. I'm sure you'll be able to find a better partner thought." She rolled her eyes. Ricky opened the door. Julia was hopping around trying to get her shoes on.

"Does she know we'll wait?" Sam leaned over and watched.

"That's just how she gets ready." Ricky said. When Julia got her shoes on, she stood up and fixed her hair and walked over to us.

"Ok I'm ready, can we eat first?"

"I know a place." They linked arms and walked away.

"Giving you a heads up, we might be in Ney York a lot." Ricky told me.

"Want a penthouse?" I asked him. He looked down at me. "I made Sam move out of the penthouse. Then she made me go to a charity and I gave some money. So I'm looking to sell the penthouse."

"How many houses do you own?"

"Two right now. Throw out the years, many." He laughed at me.

"We'll talk about it later. But I might take you up on that offer." Dinner was great and all Sam had to do was drop my name and we got the best table. I left a nice tip on the table and let Sam lead us to the club. She walked us to the front line and started talking to the guy behind the rope. As we were waiting I looked around and listened to some voices.

"Yes ma'am right away, I'm sorry for the wait." The guy hurry to let us throw. I let them walk throw and stopped to talk to him.

"Six couple back, let them throw also." I pasted him a tip and caught up with Sam.

"Big softy." She said as she put her arm around mine.

"Why are there lines?" I asked her.

"Because there's a limit to how many people can be in the room. Give it time and everyone will know where everything is. What did you hear?" She asked.

"There here on their honey moon." She looked up at me. "As much as I don't like waiting it was unfair for us to get let in while others are waiting. The woman was getting upset."

"Can't have a woman cry around you, do you want me to send them something?" She asked me. I shook my head no. We followed Ricky and Julia to the dance floor.

Can I dance with you, or will they think the wrong thing? Julia thought at me. I smiled as I pulled her close to me.

"Love, never question what's normal, just because people are around." I whispered in her ear. Finely she started moving with me. We got drinks and danced until my watch went off.

"Try and have fun while I'm gone." I kissed her head and moved away from her.


	29. Chapter 29

I watched him move throw the crowd. I don't know how he always moves without touching anyone. I started moving to the bar when a man moved in front of me.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know if you would dance with me." He asked me.

"Um,"

"Never mind," He turned and walked away.

"Can I get a drink first?" I asked him. He looked back at me. I walked over to the bar.

"What can I get you Ms. Davis?" The bartender asked.

"Club soda please and?" I looked at the guy.

"Same." He nodded and poured us two drinks. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Davis." He held out his hand. I took it and shook it.

"Sam please."

"Taylor, or Mr. Dorsey." I took a drink to hide my smile. When the bartender came back I waved him over.

"Yes?" He asked me.

"The couple Mr. Peterson had pushed up, and send in. Can you find them and send them someone special." I asked him. He smiled and nodded.

"Anything in mind?"

"There here on their honey moon. Something to make them remember there trip?"

"I'll get it done," He walked away. I took a drink and looked up at the guy.

"Sorry, I would have forgotten if I didn't do it now. Do you still want to dance?" I asked him.

"After you answer what that was all about?"

"I pushed a head in the line and felt bad about it." He nodded and led me to the dance floor.

"Can I ask something else?" He asked me.

"Sure?"

"It's not common someone agrees to dance when there on a trip with someone else?" He told me. I stopped and looked up at him. "The guy you've been dancing with."

"It's not what you think. We're not together or anything." He smiled at me and pulled me to him. We danced, throw a few songs. I saw Peter sitting at the bar smiling at me. I waved at him. Taylor stopped us. I looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Your, it's not what I thinking about is back."

"Peter," I told him.

"We'll Peter's back, I don't want to step on toes." He said as he was walking me over to Peter. Peter stood up and held out his hand.

"Peter this is Taylor, Taylor this is Peter." Peter nodded, then leaned over and kissed my check.

"Good night Love," He walked around us and left. I watched him and looked up at Taylor.

"I told you it wasn't what you were thinking." I smiled at him.

"It didn't look like nothing." He told me.

"It can look like that but it wasn't. Peter's gay," I told him. I saw his mouth almost drop to the floor. He looked at me, then where Peter disappeared.

"It really wasn't anything I thought. You came on a cruise with a gay man?" He asked me. I laughed at him. He really was having a hard time taking all of this in.

"Mostly we're here on business. We're also trying to fit in some down time because we've been working really hard." I told him.

"You're working on a curies?"

"Yes,"

"Doing what?" He asked me. Two drinks showed up in front of us.

"Making sure everything runs smoothly for the first voyage of Dawn Breaker. Don't ask me about the name, he picked it. I tried for two years to get him to change the name."

"He who?"

"Peter, Peter is Mr. Peterson who owns the ship." Again his mouth dropped opened.

"Can I ask who you are to all that?"

"Personal assistant and best friend to Peter." He looked my face over and smiled.

"You are a very surprising woman. Also the most beautiful. Makes me wonder why you don't have someone already?" He asked me.

"Guys either think the same thing you do, or there crazy. Don't think that's just who I meet. That's just the,"

"Sorry Ms. Davies, there's just a little problem." The bartender said and handed me a phone.

"Hello?"

"Sorry Sam, we're having a little problem down in the main kitchen." Sandy told me.

"I'll be right there." I handed the phone back. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go." I waved, took my purse and walked out.

"Again I'm really sorry Sam, the cook just called me and told me this was happening." She said and waved to the stack ovens.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"It's not working. It won't turn on and work right. I know nothing about kitchens and Marcus isn't answering his phone. This man can't even speck so I can understand him. If we can't get this working there won't be anything to eat tomorrow." She was frisking out. I poured her a glass of wine and sat her down.

I walked over to the stove and looked it over. Then looked behind it and couldn't figure out what was wrong. I grabbed a phone and called Peter.

"Love he's a good man," He said and sounded like he was half asleep.

"That's really nice and all, but I'm in the kitchen and the stoves aren't working." I told him. He asked where I was and told me he would be right there. I kept looked around for a way to fix it while I was waiting.

"Alright fill me in." I looked back and saw Peter walking into the kitchen in his pants and flip flops. Sandy and I shrugged. The cook started going off, specking something I didn't know. Peter asked a few things back, then nodded and walked over to the stove. He opened the doors walked in. We all watched him flip some switches and walked back out. He shut the doors and turned it on.

"How did you do that?"

"It self-cleans itself. But won't work while in that mode." He told me and started talking to that man again. Then took my arm and walked me out.

"Thank you, I'm sorry. Thank you." Sandy said. Peter nodded and just walked us away.

"I woke you up didn't I?"

"Love, stop worrying. I'm still half asleep and don't have much control right now. And yes Taylor is a very nice man." He told me.

"How do you know?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow." He opened our door and walked us in. Took off his pants and got right back into bed. I got ready for bed and moved next to him. He pulled me to him and kissed my head. "He also likes you." He said softly.

"Lots of men like me."

"Not ones who will watch you for three hours dancing with another man and still have the courage to ask you to dance." I looked up at him and saw he was smiling.

"We danced for three hours?"

"Yes love and you were all he could see." He kissed my head. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

"Peter the door," I said, someone was knocking on the door. He didn't move. I pushed him away. "Door."

"Alright Love I'm getting the door." He got up and went to answer the door.

"What the hell," He said. I rolled over and saw Julia and Ricky standing there.

"It's noon, are you planning on getting up any times today?" She asked us.

"Tell that to the kitchen." He said and shut the door. "Love move over." He said and moved behind me.

"Fine we'll just go have fun without you. We found slides." Julia said.

"I ordered then," Peter said.

"There's slides," I asked Peter.

"Back of the ship," Peter told me. I got up and gave him a push. "I'm sleeping." He said to me.

"No you're not, you're trying to go back to sleep. I know what you look like when you're sleeping, this isn't' it. Come on, I want to check out the slides." He cracked up his eyes and looked at me. Pushed the blankets back and got back up. He opened the door and waved Julia and Ricky out. I already grabbed my suit and was heading to the bathroom.

"I need to sleep sometimes woman." Peter said throw the door.

"I'll make sure your in bed early tonight." I opened the door and kissed his check. He put on his sunglasses and opened the door for me.

After we finely got the sleepy heads out of bed, the day was great. Not that Ricky and I didn't have a great morning without them. But they knew where everything was.

Sam picked a really nice place to have dinner. But half way throw our dessert Peter leaned over kissed Sam on the check, pushed his chair back and walked away. I watched him. Then looked over at Sam. She saw me.

"He'll be back in a few minutes." I watched her take a drink of her drink.

"Where's he going?" I asked her.

"That thing you weren't very happy about. Really it will only take a few minutes." She told me. Ricky leaned over and kissed my check. He also slipped something in my ear.

"Excuse me, I just need to run to the bathroom." I said and walked away from the table. I walked into the bathroom and disappeared in a stall. Then started making my way where Ricky was telling me where I would find Ricky. When I found him, I throw up a field and started pushing him backwards. When I got him in a back hallway, I throw up a field over the cameras.

"Julia I'm working." Chris said in a pissed off voice. I folded my arms and leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway.

"And I told you clearly to stay away from my family. Your job is getting very close to my family." He looked at me.

"Then tell your boyfriend to stay away from my job." I started laughing.

"Ricky, you think I'm keeping you away from Ricky. How do you think I keep finding you? Ricky showed me to where you were." I told him.

"Then who the hell are you keeping me from?" He yelled at me.

"Who the fuck do you think I'm keeping you from. Has being Diesel's lap dog made you stupid?" I asked him. He looked around trying to find me.

"Peter's here?" Chris asked me. I walked over to him and sucker punched him.

"You don't get to say his name. You don't even get to think about him. It's been 10 fucking years Chris. 10 fucking years." I showed myself as I punched him again. He's eyes turned dark and he looked down at me.

"I've been working." I started laughing at him.

"What do you think everyone else does when they get out of school? I've worked for our government and the supers for 10 years and I still make it home. Don't try to tell me you couldn't pick up the phone and call the man you said you loved. 10 fucking years you bastered." He flicked his finger to me and something hit the force field.

"You have powers," I said and I couldn't believe what I just saw.

"Of course I have powers," He said like I lost my mind.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? Why did you hide it?" I asked him.

"Because at the time all I could do was stop time and the man I love didn't have one." He told me.

"Peter has powers. Peter's powers showed themselves before mine did. He didn't say anything because you did and he didn't want anyone to know." I told Chris, he looked at me and was reading my face. "Everyone from that crash got powers. If you had some, why would you ever think he didn't?" I asked him.

"He never told me." Chris sounded hurt.

"You never told him, you the man he thought loved him never told him. Peter didn't say anything to anyone for years. Diesel con it out of him. Your boss is also blackmailing my brother to do his dirty work." I told him.

"He has powers?" Chris asked again.

"I already answered that."

"What are they?" He almost pleased at me to tell him.

"10 years ago Peter could read minds." He looked up at me and I could see the pain. "You have no right to fell back, you brought all of this on yourself." I yelled at him. Something snapped and he flicked his fingers at me again. Something hit my force field. I throw a ball back at him. It was stopped also. I glared and dropped the force field. That started an all-out war.

"You have to be out of your fucking minds." Someone yelled behind me. We both froze. Slowly I turned around and saw Peter standing there and he was really pissed off. He was looking behind me.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? I'm fucking here to prevent someone finding out about us. Now my fucking sister, my fucking sister is out in the open showing off. You work for the fucking government, out of everyone I would have thought you would have understood what the rules are. Clean this up and make sure no one saw or heard you. Tomorrow make sure you find yourself off my ship and not back on." He yelled at us, turned around and walked away.

"His ship?" Chris asked.

"Peter is Mr. Peterson, he owns the ship." I told him.

"He owns this ship?"

"Peter is a successful business man and just kicked us off his ship. Better inform Diesel you can't do your job any longer." I started walking away.

"He can't," I stopped and shook my head.

"One thing you need to learn is if Peter said something you better do it. Leave willing or he'll make you leave and you won't remember you were ever here and might not remember who you were. I said 10 years ago he could read minds. That's not the same today." I walked away.

"She means it," I looked around and saw Diesel leaning against the back wall.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to find out a lot of things. I also understand a few things, that no one would help me understand. Working for me was always your chose Chris."

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"Your job is over. You only need to watch your man until Peter could do his job. I also would listen to him, Peter is more powerful than me." He said and pushed off the wall.

"You want me to get off this ship and onto an island I know nothing about."

"Chris I don't care what you do, stay on the ship or get off the ship. I just came to tell you, your job is over." He was gone. I headed to the newest door outside and light up a smoke.

"Sure did make a mess of things didn't you?" I looked over and saw Ricky walking over to me.

"What do you want?"

"At one time we were friends Chris, I came to see how you were. Julia doesn't hold back when she's upset. Then seeing someone you loved for the first time in 10 years can be hard." He told me.

"So he's moved on." He turned and looked at me.

"What?"

"You and Julia both keep on saying loved. I know I still love him, so he must not love me. I asked you if he's moved on?" Chris smiled and looked out at the water.

"You're talking to the wrong guy, Chris. Julia and I are hardly even in state let alone the country. If you want to know if Peter has moved on, you're going to need to talked to him and ask. 10 years is a long time, but hi still works."

"If you weren't informed, I was kicked off the ship tonight." He started laughing.

"Weather he knows or not. The ship won't leave without everyone back on it. All the pushing he could do won't stop that. Being stuck on a ship for the next four days could help you." He pushed off the railing and started walking away. "Oh ya, the woman isn't he's." He said.

"What?"

"The woman you'll see around him, she isn't his. He's still the same man and still is gay." He opened the door and was gone. I stood there trying to take everything in. I pulled out my smokes and light up another one.

I walked away before the tears could fall. I walked to the top desk. Most of these desks were empty. I leaned against the railing and let go.

"Peter?" A worried Sam said and touched my arm. She put her arms around me and hugged me. "What happened?" She asked me.

"Later," I told her, put my arms around her and held her to me. "I kicked my sister off the ship." She pulled back and looked at me. I just started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"It's against protocol, everyone has to be accounted for before the ship can leave. I'm stuck on this ship for four days, with my sister and the man I've thought I love. What makes things worse, I made up that rule." I just started laughing harder.

"What?"

"After taking care of what I needed to, I got lost and ran into my sister fighting with her powers with the man I thought I've been in love with for the last 10 years. Turns out he had powers all along. There they were in the middle of the hallway fighting. Now I'm stuck with them." I told her.

"That explains where she's been running off to." I looked down at her. She took my hand and waited, I opened my mind to her and let her show me what she wanted. I watched her watch Julia run off a few times. "I didn't think someone needed to go to the bathroom, that many times and that long." She told me.

"She's knew all along?" I couldn't believe it.

"The man you showed me, he's here?" She asked me.

"In the flash. How did you find me?" I asked her.

"As Ricky was leaning he pointed me to where I should go and find you. It took me a while. Are you going to inform them they don't have to leave?" She asked me.

"No, but I'm going to drop their name and not let them off. Do you want me to find you your man?" I asked her?

"No I want to take my friend out to get drinks and to bed. I remember I told you I would put you to bed early." She told me and I let her walk me to the closes bar.

"What will you have?" She asked me.

"Anything Love, you pick." She walked over to the bar and was given a bottle and glasses. She filled our glasses.

"Peter now that you've seen him, do you still love him?" She asked me after a few drinks.

"I can't answer, but if I see him, I'll point him out." She looked at me.

"You're not going to go find him and talk to him?" She asked me.

"Love I waited three years for him to come home and talk to me. I don't have anything to stay to him. If he feels like he has something to say to me, I'll listen. Besides that, that's part of my past." I told her.

"But you love him?"

"I also hate him the same amount for what he did to me. Julia I loved the same person, since I was 12. It's not easy to get over the hurt he cased."

"But what did he do?" She asked me.

"When he was 18 he enlisted in the army. I didn't care, my dad was in the army for years. But he never told me or Julia. A week before school got out he finely told us. We spent a week together and he left. He said he would be back in two years. I waited and he never came back?" She was looking at me.

"Never?"

"Not that I know of. But now here he is and Julia's been hiding him from me. Or maybe she's been hiding me from him. She's a good sister." She nodded and filled our cups up.

"I'll make sure they know they can't leave. Come on," She grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I put my arm over her shoulders and kissed her head.

"Do whatever you want love." She put her arm around me and walked us to our room.

I got us in the room and got his clothes off. He laid down and let me covered him.

"Come to bed love." I didn't say anything and waited a few minutes for him to fall asleep. I changed my clothes, grabbed my purse and walked out of the room. I took a few deep breaths and knocked on the door to Ricky and Julia's room. It took a few minutes then the door opened.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." I told Ricky.

"No, we haven't went to bed yet." He told me. I saw Julia on the bed crying.

"Peter didn't mean what he said. We'll he did mean it, but really he won't let either of them off the ship. Peter put a protocol on the ship that it won't leave port without everyone accounted for. I'm just warring you that Peter won't let either of them off the ship. Now if you could, could you please point me in the direction of other party?" I asked Ricky.

"What?" Julia asked. She got up off the bed and walked over to us.

"Peter isn't kicking you off the ship, you won't even get past the doors in the morning. What he said, he did when he was upset. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does you just kind of have to give him it. Now if you'll please point me to where I need to go or give me a name?" I asked them.

"You want to go talk to Chris?" Ricky asked me.

"I don't want to talk to him, I just need to inform him that he isn't allowed to leave." Julia just looked at me. I watched Ricky look over my head. I didn't understand what was going on.

"Has Peter told you anything about Chris?" Julia asked me and wiped her eyes.

"I know most the story, didn't know what his name was." She nodded and leaned against Ricky.

"Room 2014," Ricky told me.

"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning. With most the people getting off, there will be a lot we can do." I told them.

"He'll still be mad at me."

"You're his sister," I told her and walked away. It took me a few minutes to find the right floor and room. Again I took a few deep breaths and knocked on the door. I looked at my watch and knocked again. It was late, but I started tapping my foot.

"Can I help you?" I looked over and saw a man leaning against the wall down the hall from me. I looked at him closely and folded my arms.

"Just because you're different doesn't mean you can be rude. Anyways I'm here to give you a friendly worrying that your name will be at the door and you will not be allowed to leave the ship tomorrow. Try and you will be confined to your room." I turned and started walking away. "And the sign you're leaning against, read it." I told him. I turned the corner and almost ran into someone.

"Oh god." I said and put my hand on my chest.

"Who are you?" He asked me. I looked back around the corner and saw he wasn't there. How did he get here? I held out my hand for him.

"Samantha Davis,"

"Who are you?" He asked me again, I folded my arms and thought about telling him.

"I'm sure I just told you who I was." I told him and walked around him.

"You told me your name, not who you are." I turned and headed outside. For some reason I know he would follow me all the way back to my room.

"Why do you need to know who I am so bad?" I asked him.

"You just gave me a worrying against the one I was given earlier. Who should I believe?" He asked me.

"You don't have to believe me. Try and you will be confined to your room. I said that so you would know what would happen. Ok maybe you won't be confined to your room if you try to see if you could leave. But if you did try to leave you would. Maybe not your room, that would be hard for someone to watch you in your room. It also would be up to the captain where you would be. It's his ship, but then he would have to know what's going on. So maybe you would be confined in your room. I really haven't worked all that out. I just came to tell you that you can leave." He was just looking at me.

"You remind me of someone?" He told me. I looked up at him and saw he was trying to figure it out.

"Are you going to try to leave?" I asked him.

"No," I nodded.

"Good, because I really don't know how I would explain all of this to the captain. He's a nice guy but a stick in the mud. Hey how did you move so fast?" I asked him. I looked up at him and he was gone, he tapped my should and I looked over at him.

"That?" He asked.

"I didn't think you should openly do that." I told him.

"You were the one who said I was different. Who told you?" I thought about it.

"No one had to tell me, ok someone told me you were in a fight with Julia. How did you do that?" I asked him.

"By freezing time, you?" I started laughing.

"I'm just me, nothing extract. I have enough on my plate without having to deal with extract. How do all of you do it?" I said. I've watched Peter go throw it so many times throw the years.

"Not something you have a chose on." I looked up at him and watched him pull out a smoke. He flicked his finger and it light. But there was hurt in his eyes.

"I'm about to ask questions and know I shouldn't. So I'm not going to. But whatever you're thinking right now. Maybe there's someone who should know what you're thinking." He gave me a look. "I don't like to pair, I suck at it really. I like to stick to what I know and what I'm good at and this isn't what I'm good at. I'm really good at specking my mind and I know I shouldn't. I really shouldn't even be here, but here I am and I know I should. I like Julia and she's fun to be around. If she left, I would, I don't know. But it wasn't my chose to, whatever. Do leave." I nodded and started walking away.

"Sara,"

"Sam, it's Sam." I huffed at him.

"No that's who you reminded me of." I looked back at him. He was smiling at me.

"Mix that with a little of all the woman and that's who I will remind me of." He looked my face over. I opened the door and walked inside.

When I got to our room. I got dressed in my PJ's and moved next to Peter. He put his arm around me and pulled me to him. I fell asleep, smiling. I liked Chris.

I woke up slowly, Sam was laying half way over me and dreaming very loudly. I kissed her head and moved out from under her. I pulled on some shorts and running shoes. Then left for a run. I shut the door and turned around. Ricky was standing there looking at me.

"Joining me?" I asked him. He smiled and followed me onto the deck. We started running.

"How long?" I asked him. He slowed down, I matched his pace.

"She saw him at the first dinner." I thought about it. When she went to the bathroom, Sam picked up on it right away. "He didn't know you were here, was here working for Diesel, the guy you pushed last night was the guy he was watching." He told me.

"So she was hiding me from him?" I asked him.

"Yes," We picked up speed and he ran with me till I was done. I stopped and leaned against the railing.

"Sam came and talked to us last night." He told me. I smiled and wiped my face off. "She also went and talked to Chris." I looked over at him.

"Explain?"

"She came to tell us that we cannot leave the ship. We shouldn't even try to leave the ship and she has things planned because everyone should be leaving the ship. When she was done she asked for me to point her where she could find Chris to say mostly the same thing."

"She takes things into her own hands, balls of steal." I shook my head.

"She does things like this a lot?"

"Yes, drives me mad most the time. But in the end she's always in the right. I was mad that they would pull some shit like that and yelled. When I remember what I said, I couldn't stop laughing. I was the one who made the rule that everyone has to be accountable." I smiled at the thought.

"Are you mad that we didn't say anything to you?"

"Ricky I have nothing to say to him. He's the one who left and never came back. The fact that he's here, doesn't change anything. I'm not mad at Julia for anything besides showing herself in the open."

"You'll need to tell her that, she was pretty upset last night." I looked over at him.

"I'll talk to her. Come on let's get back." We walked back and went into our own rooms. I went over and kissed Sam on the head. She rolled towards me.

"Why are you waking me up?" She asked me.

"I'm going to take a shower, are you ready to wake up?" I asked her.

"Why?" She asked me.

"Brunch, then fun." She picked up at me. "Or you can take Julia to the spa?"

"We made plans to do that tomorrow. Can we just do nothing for a little while?"

"You can take a nap on me in the wave pool?" She nodded and held out her hand for me. I helped her up. She walked right around me and into the bathroom.

I let her take a shower and walked out on the deck. I watched the waves.

"Your turn," She told me. I walked inside and went to take my shower. "Peter?"

"Yes love?"

"I talked to Julia last night," I turned off the water and wrapped on a towel. I kissed her head as I past.

"I know love," She followed me out after turning off the light.

"What?"

"I know you went and talked to her and Chris last night. Don't worry about it." When I was done getting dressed I looked over at her and saw she had her back to me. "Love?"

"I hate that you know everything." She said.

"Ricky told me, I don't know everything." I hugged her. She hugged me back. When she pulled back she looked up at me.

"Alright feed me." I grabbed everything and pulled on my sun glasses as she opened the door. She knocked on their door. "Where are we going to eat?" She asked me.

"We'll order on the desk." She knocked again and leaned against me. "When did you come to bed?"

"I drank too much."

"You can nap soon, I think we should just leave."

"We're coming, hold on." Julia yelled out. I got a peck at her mind and shocked my head. They opened the door and walked out. We headed to the deck and ordered something to eat.

"What are we going to do now."

"Pool," Sam took off her skirt and pulled me with her. I pulled her to a stop and pulled off my shirt. Took everything out of my pockets and pulled her shirt off also. Then walked with her over to the pool. When I was sitting I pulled her on me and turned her so she was laying down.

"It's just like she disappeared?" Ricky said as he helped Julia onto him. She put her feet onto me and we started moving.

"Julia, I'm not mad at you." She looked away and I could see her eye teared up.

"You should be," I grabbed her feet and rubbed them.

"Why, you were being my sister."

"Because he didn't just hurt you. Because if you did what I did I would be mad. He just left and never came back or even said anything. Then I found out we've been working for the same person almost. I really don't work for Diesel all that much. I'm pissed Peter." Ricky put his arms around her.

"I noticed that last night. I'm sorry Julia."

"I just want to hurt him, I want him to know how much he's hurt me. My best friend left without much of a goodbye and didn't say anything for 10 years. He acts like he didn't even know me."

"I could help with that?" She wiped off her face and gave me a look.

"No, is she asleep?" I looked down and saw Sam was already out.

"We were drinking last night, she never has a hangover, but sleeps most the next day." They laughed at that.

We waited around, when Sam woke up she rolled over and fell off me. As she stood up, she spit out the water that was in her mouth.

"Awake love?" I asked her with a smile. I helped her back on me and put my arm behind her.

"Where still here?" She asked and looked around.

"It was nice, just sitting here and not having to do anything. Plus you were sleeping."

"You didn't have to stay here." Sam told her.

"It was fine, anyways you were sleeping on Peter. What should we do now?" Julia asked.

"Eating sounds good," And that was that. The girls got off us and got out of the pool. I watched them, then looked over to Ricky.

"I'm good here, you?" I nodded and we just waited around. When we got to the steps, we got out and went over to the table. Food was already there waiting for us.

"We're going rock climbing after this, are you coming?" Sam asked me.

"Do you need us?" Ricky asked.

"Your nice to look at, we'll wait for you." Julia said. After we eat, they went to get changed and meet them by the back climbing wall. We all went, and then Ricky and I sat down and watched them.

"I don't think we're needed anymore." He told me.

"How could you tell? What are we going to do with ourselves tomorrow while there at the spa?"

"What's there to do for men?" He asked me. I thought about it as I watched the woman climb up.

"We'll look around, I'll," I stopped when I saw Sam froze. I got up and walked over to the wall. I stepped over the rope. Everyone started making a fuss.

"Sam," I called up to her.

"Why did you let me do this?" She asked me.

"I'll catch you if you fall, come down." She shook her head no. "Sam just let go," She shook her head again and wouldn't move.

"Help," She said softly.

"Sam I promise I'll catch you, just let go and come down." She looked down at me. Then shocked her head no. I waved the guy over and took the rope. I put the end under my foot and started pulling on it. I pulled her off the wall and started lowering her down. When she was in front of me, I put my arm around her and put her on her feet.

"Your safe," She nodded and still wouldn't move. I smiled and helped her out of her harness, picked her up and walked back over to the table.

"Something to drink?" I asked and handed her my drink. She took it. Ricky was watching and wanted to know what was going on? I shocked my head no. I would tell him later. I turned Sam's face to mine and waited for her to look at me.

Slowly I pushed her thoughts into the back of her mind. When I was done, I watched her waiting.

"I'm hungry,"

"Where to?" Julia asked Sam. They got up and took off. Slowly we got up and followed them.

"What was that about?"

"Heights bring up bad memories. I've learned to push thoughts in the back of the mind. That memory is a vital part of her life. I can't make her forget it without changing her." We followed the girls into a restaurant and sat down at a table. We ordered our food and drinks.

"Where to next?" I asked when we were done eating. The girls looked at each other.

"Dancing." They got up and ran out. I left a tip and walked out with Ricky.

"I don't think I'm going to have time alone with Julia." I told me.

"Sam?" I called after the girls. They stopped and looked back at us.

"No dancing?" She asked and walked back at me.

"Go get ready and I'll catch up." She bounced back to Julia. I nodded Ricky to follow me. We walked up to the offices, I knocked on Sandy's door and walked in.

"Mr. Peterson?" She asked.

"I need you to block off section A and put together a romantic dinner for two, wine and dancing." She started making notes and nodding at me.

"I'll get it done, what would you and Sam like to eat?"

"It's not for me," She looked up at me.

"So the rumors are true?"

"What rumors?" I asked her. She looked at Ricky, and then looked back at me.

"That Sam was checking on you." Ricky started laughing.

"Sandy Sam and I are not an item. I'm gay, we just work together. The dinner is for my sister and Ricky. Just put together a really nice dinner, or wait and let them order something. If you have questions, come find me later." I got up and walked out with Ricky.

"Her face was priceless. What are you and Sam going to do while we're at dinner?" He wanted to know.

"I'm sure we can find something to do, I'll give you the box before you leave with her. After being pampered all day should put her in a good mood."

"Thanks man," I nodded. We walked into our own rooms. Sam was getting ready. I got in the shower and washed off.

"Where did you guys run off to?" She asked when I got out.

"Set up a dinner for Ricky and Julia. That will give us time to take care of my last person. I kissed her head and walked out. I was buttoning up my shirt when she walked out. She put on a sexy black dress.

I zipped up the back and tied it for her. She turned around and fixed what she thought should be fixed. Then she opened the door and walked out. I grabbed what I needed and watched her knock on the door.

"Sandy thinks were together." I told her.

"I've told her a million times we just work together." She rolled her eyes at me.

"There's also a rumor going around that your checking on me." She rolled her eyes at me again.

"Now why would anyone who was with you want to do? You're the prefect person. Why are people always so noises? Thank you for earlier." I pulled her to me and put my arms around her. She moved so I wouldn't mess up her hair. I kissed her forehead.

"Any time love. You're the one who lets me in." She kissed my check.

"No one can keep you out."

"Your right, but you openly let me." She put her arms around me and kissed my check. "You haven't asked me about your dance partner yet?"

"Things have came up, I'm waiting for you to tell me." I smiled and saw her thoughts. She was thinking about him.

"He's a good guy, Love."

"Why's he on this curies." She asked me.

"He's here on business. A travel magazine sent him to get the dirt." She pulled back and looked at me.

"What?"

"He's done a piece for the other two ships, they were very good pieces and so far this one should be also. That has nothing to do with him liking you." She didn't believe me.

"This sucks,"

"When did he find out who you were?" I asked him.

"Right before I had to run out of there because Sandy needed helps. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Samantha he watched you dance with me for three hours before coming up to you and asking you to dance. After you danced, you told him who you were. That's what it has to do with anything. If I thought he was using you I wouldn't have left. He really is a nice guy Love."

"I hate dating and guys." I smiled at her.

"I don't think anyone likes them." Julia said.

"How did you do it? You have the prefect boyfriend." Sam turned around and asked.

"I was con into it. Ready?" Julia asked, Sam nodded and pulled me along with her. She took us to another club. I let her talk to the man behind the rope. It didn't take as long and we were let in. Sam led us onto the dance floor and pulled me to her. After the third dance I saw Taylor, he was sitting at a table in the back and he was watching Sam closely.

"Love, are you ready to rethink hating guys?" I asked her. She looked up at me. I turned her around and pointed out Taylor to her.

"What?"

"He really likes you Love, give him a chance." I kissed her head and walked over to the bar.

"What can I get you Mr. Peterson?" There were three bartenders, but without making herself really known the woman fought to help me.

"Scotch," I asked her. She smiled at me as she got what I asked for. Then added ice and some mint. I took it and gave the glass a look.

"Just try it," I gave the glass a look and thought about it.

"You put mint in it," I told her.

"Just try it," She told me and was waiting. This is why I hate having to order my own drinks. Sam always makes sure I don't have to drink stuff like this. I picked up the glass and took a drink. I hated the mint at once. The glass was taking out of my hand. I looked over and saw Sam. She sat it down, shaking her head. I watched her lean over the bar, grabbed another glass, put ice in it and poured Scotch in it. Hand it back and walked away. I gave the woman a tip, sat down and turned around.

"It was just mint," The woman said in a huff. I smiled and took a drink.

"Sorry about her, Mr. Peterson, want a refill?" I nodded and gave him my glass.

"Its fine, Peter please." He nodded and filled up my glass.

"Luke," He said and shook my hand. "you must get that a lot?" He said and nodded to the woman.

"Not normal, do you like your job so far?" He nodded right away. "This isn't a test."

"The job is great and the tips are even better. I worked on the Midnight breeze, before I was transferred here. This is over the top." He said and looked around.

"Thank you, now let me hear the but." I told him.

"Some people are a little over achievers. Working hard is great, I would never say no to that. But you could tell with the drink, you don't doctor something up. Unless someone wants it." He told me.

"You do know you have full control over you staff." He just looked at me. "You're there supervisor, not the other way around. Yes you're all new to the job, but you know how things work around here already. How did you know who I was?" I asked him.

"You and Sam came on the midnight breeze to check up on things. Sam pulled me aside and sternly told me how to make your drinks. For about 10 minutes I thought I was going to be fired, she watched me make them. Thanked me and just walked away. Something like that you don't forget."

"Sorry, she comes off like that a lot."

"Don't be, when she left she gave me a raise and promotion." I looked up at him. What the hell would she do that for?

"She did all that because you could make a neat scotch?" I asked him.

"That was just the start. She didn't just hand me thought things. By the end of the week she give them to me because I earned them."

"Did you sleep with her?" I asked him. He took a step back and stood up straight.

"No sir I wouldn't do that sir."

"Then you must have eared it, she wouldn't have given you a raise without case. Now you can doctor my drink." He was already on top of it. He gave me my glass back with line in it.

"Why does he get to do something to your drink?" The woman asked.

"Mr. Peterson this is April." I nodded and looked back at Sam. She was happy. I heard Luke talk to her quietly. She huffed off.

"April isn't going to work out," I told him.

"Sorry again, she had really good resume. Worked in clubs for a few years." He told me looking over to her.

"Then move her to a younger club where she would fit in, if she sticks her breasts out to another married man. She's going to get herself in to a lot of trouble." I pointed out what was going on.

"Sorry again,"

"Keep saying sorry and I won't think you have anything else to say. I'm going to take that look as you've already talked to her about that?" I asked him.

"Last night someone throw a drink in her face." I laughed at that.

"Get ahold of Sandy and have her moved and maybe a bar." Luke tried not to laugh. He started making two drinks and put them next to me. I looked at him, he nodded behind me. I turned and saw Sam and Taylor walking over to me.

"How's Barbie?" Sam asked and sat down. She took the drink. "Thanks."

"Be nice," She looked down the bar at the woman.

"Who's Barbie?" Taylor asked.

"The woman who is sticking her fake boobs at everyone." Sam told him and kept glaring at April. "Oh, Taylor this is Luke." Luke and Taylor shook hands.

"Her name is April, stopped getting upset she'll be moved somewhere where she'll fit in. It was just mint." She gave me a look.

"Did you like it?" Taylor was watching us and smiling.

"I tried it didn't I?"

"You shouldn't have had to try it, did you ask for it. No, I know that because who the hell would want it." I smiled and moved out of the way for her to see what was about to happen. There was some yelling, then a drink was throw in Aprils face.

"Feel better now?" I asked her.

"Yes, thank you." She kissed my check.

"Anytime love, have a good evening." I kissed her forehead, grabbed my full glass and walked out. As I walked around the deck, I rolled up my sleeves. When I got to the front deck, I leaned against the railing watching the water.

I heard someone walking over to me and heard there thoughts. It didn't take me long to know who it was. I listened for a few minutes, then pulled back and closed down that part of my mind. I just waited.

"She's beautiful." He said to me.

"Yes she is," I took a drink. I smiled and knew he like everyone else thought we were together.

"Oh thank god I finely found you. We need a system or you need a phone. Though it wouldn't work out here. Maybe if it was a ships phone," I looked back and saw Sandy stop to think about it.

"What can I do for you Sandy?"

"Sorry Mr. Peterson," She shook her head and waved her hand. "Dinner, I suck at picking what people should eat. I started putting everything together and remember that. I did it once, that's how I lost my last boyfriend. Or it could do with me moving onto the ship without talking to him."

"Sandy?" She shook her head again.

"I would have asked Sam, but I didn't know if she should know about the dinner. So here I am, what would you like the dinner to be." She asked and opened her folded. She looked up at me and gave me time to think about it.

"Lemon chicken," I told her. She wrote it down and looked up at me.

"I should ask Sam?" She asked me. I nodded at her, she closed her folder.

"Whatever club Luke works in, she'll be there. She knows about the dinner and well help."

"Thank you," She turned and walked away. I turned back around and took another drink.

"Peter,"

"Chris?" I said back to him. Again he just stood there.

"Peter really, why am I planning the date?" I looked back and saw Sam walking over to me. Sandy was behind her trying to keep up.

"Where's Taylor?"

"Twice, I've had to leave twice." She took my empty glass and gave me a full one.

"Thank you love, you're planning it because I have no idea what should be served." She put her hands on her hips. I smiled at her.

"Twice," She pointed out again.

"Would you like me to go explain to him why I pulled you away?" She throw her hands up. Turned on her heals and walked away. Sandy looked back and forth trying to freighters out what to do.

"Follow her," She turned and hurried away. I looked over at Chris and started reading his mind. One second something was there, the next nothing was there. I closed down my mind and turned back around. I took a drink. If he wasn't going to talk or let me read his mind, them he wasn't there.

"You never told me?" He said softly.

"What?" I asked him. What the hell was he talking about?

"You had gifts all along and never told me." I gave a laugh and shook my head.

"Ask yourself, you have gifts all along and never said a damn word. I keep them to myself because people always act and think differently around me. Your good friend Diesel was the one who out me to my family. Took him around three years to find out what I could do, couldn't leave it alone till he did." I told him. "In coming." I said.

"For the love of god Peter, why the hell am I planning a romantic dinner?" Sam yelled at me.

"Because,"

"I will push you over if you're about to say woman. Just because I'm a woman does not mean I know how to plan a romantic dinner. Now on top of that, what if I just messed up everything for the proposal." She yelled at me.

"Too late for that," I said, her eyes opened wide. Chris started backing up. She heard and turned towards him.

"Chris," She nodded and looked back at me. "What the hell did you mean by that?" She asked me.

"They've already went throw this," Her face changed.

"What,"

"He asked her already, I don't think she said no. But she didn't give him the answer he was looking for. He's going to try again. Also I offered him your penthouse."

"She said no, why would she say no." I pointed my cup to Chris. She turned and looked at him. "Why would she say no because of him?"

"That love is a long story for another time, or you can ask her tomorrow. Now are you done yelling at me?"

"Yes," She came over kissed my check. "No I have to explain again how were not together. You would think someone would get the gay thing the first time." She winked at me and walked away.

"Why is it my fault?"

"Are you really asking me that?" I asked him. He finely walked over to me.

"Why is it my fault?" He asked again.

"Her best friend disappeared; you never thought that would do something to her?" I asked him.

"I don't see why me leaving has anything to do with her saying yes to Ricky?"

"Leaving and disappearing aren't the same. If you remember 10 years ago you were her best friend. Her one and only best friend. One minute you were there and the next you weren't. Give it some thought, you might understand if you still had a heart."

"I have a heart," I turned and leaned against the railing.

"You might have shown it once in the last 10 years. You know picking up the phone, sending a letter or showing up. Julia and Ricky work all around the world and still have time to show up?" I told him.

"I get it your mad at me." I shook my head and turned to face him.

"This has nothing to do with me. I have nothing to say to you, everything you did was your chose. This has to do with what you did to Julia and how you treated her. Chris I'm a grown man, believe it or not I can take care of myself. What Julia did, was all on her own. But how you treated her was wrong."

"I was working,"

"You were acting like a prick and ass."

"She said that?" He couldn't believe it.

"She didn't have to, Chris I read minds. This morning all she had to do was think about it and I knew everything. Every little thing, that had to do with the hurt you cased her." He took a step away from me.

"I get it," I closed my eyes and tried to calm down.

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry." He cupped the back of my neck and kissed me. At first it was it was soft, then it turned passion and out of control.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." He said when he pulled away.

"What did you mean to happen then?"

"I came here to explain myself. I planned to explain myself, and then I saw you today with her and talked myself out of it. Then talked myself back into it when I saw you. But I couldn't get the image out of my mind of you with her, you looked really happy."

"I know," He just looked at me. I tapped my head. "Sam did also, that's why she made the statement that I was gay. People always think we're together." I told him.

"She told me last night she didn't have any gifts?" I took a drink and sat the empty cup next to the other one.

"She doesn't, but after 8 years she's use to people thinking the wrong thing." He looked at me and started thinking the wrong thing. I opened my mouth to tell him the truth, then thought about it and closed my mouth. "What did you want to explain?"

"Why I never came back."

"You don't have to explain anything." I told him.

"I couldn't come back," I couldn't believe he just said that. I shook my head and started walking away. "Peter," Chris called after me.

"You just told me you couldn't come back. You just stood there, and told me you couldn't come back. It's been 10 fucking your and you couldn't come back once?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I was two week before coming home, when my powers advanced. I couldn't come home. I couldn't be around anyone. When I finely got a control over it I knew I blow it and didn't know if I should come back."

"What in god's name are you talking about?" I asked him.

"I don't know what to say to make you understand." I thought about it, and then walked over to him. I framed his face with my hand and let him show me what he was talking about. At first he fought me, and then stopped and let me look throw his thoughts.

"And he wonders why I never work for him." I said when I pulled out of his mind and moved away.

"I couldn't come back, I never would have let myself hurt you." He told me.

"It didn't look like you had a lot of a chose." I told him. He looked at me and didn't understand me. "We're you asked before taken away, or did they just take you." I asked him.

"Maybe a little of both, I'm sorry babe. Really I'm sorry. I couldn't control anything I did, I don't know what I would have done if I ever hurt you." I smiled at him.

"You're stupid you know that?" He looked hurt. "In a blink of an eye I can wipe someone's mind. You really think I would care if you burned me a little. Why couldn't you let me chose what I could have dealt with. I would have given anything for you to come back." He kissed me fast and walked away.

"Chris,"

"Peter I understand. I just came to explain myself. I'm sorry I hurt you." Then he was gone.

"You really are stupid." I shook my head, smiled and pushed off the railing. I centered on Sam's thoughts and went to find her. She was still in the club, but she was alone.

"Where's your partner?" I asked her.

"Where's yours?" She asked me.

"He took off when he thought the wrong thing." Luke put a drink in front of me. I nodded to him. "Yours?" I asked her.

"He went to the restroom. I'm sorry if I got in the way?"

"You didn't love, I'm letting him think I moved on because I'm still mad at him. There are things I understand now, but that hasn't changed the fact that it's been a long time." She smiled up at me.

"Which one is topping now, love or hate?" She asked me.

"Everything is still there. It's like time never passed between us." She turned towards me and waited.

"Explain?" I smiled at her.

"Love,"

"Ah come on, I want to know." She asked me. I covered her hand and showed her. By the end she was breathless and her checks were red. I pulled away and took a drink.

"Wow, find that for me." She said.

"How about you start out with ending a night?" I kissed her head, turned her towards Taylor and walked away.


	30. Chapter 30

The next day the girls went to have their own day and we hit the gym. Then played golf, it was a great day. Then Ricky took Lily off and did there thing. Sam and I went to dinner. Then I showed her where I needed to be. She got me into the woman's dressing room and we waited.

It took me less them a minute to read and push. Then I helped her pick out a dress for dinner tomorrow's date with Taylor. We changed and found a quite spot in one of the hot tubes on the back of the ship? She leaned back and gave me her feet.

"Can I join you?" Taylor asked. She gave me a look for not telling her, nodded.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I was swimming, saw you and wanted to join." She was smiling like it was Christmas.

"How are you liking your stay so far?" I asked him.

"It's been great." He looked down at Sam, then at me. "You know who I am don't you?"

"From the minute I meet you, Sam did not." He was trying to see if I was telling the truth. Sam was following something with her eyes. She tapped me with her foot. Then nodded behind me.

"What?" I asked her.

"You're always telling me to be nice, come on I fell really bad for him." I knew what she was talking about.

"How did you know?" Taylor asked me.

"You're the same person who's done pieces on my other ships. The name and picture tipped me off. I didn't think it was a big deal. I also didn't feel the need to pamper you just because you were here doing a piece on the ship. So I didn't tell Sam, that didn't last very long. I filled her in yesterday and she thought the same thing I thing you're thinking right now."

"Please I really really want to meet him for real. The last two times I did a lot of yelling. Please Peter." Taylor was trying to understand what was going on.

"Fine go get him." She hopped right up.

"Wait what if he doesn't have anything to wear?" I raised an eye brow at her. "Never mind." She got out and walked away.

"I'm confused, should I get use to her always running off?" He asked me.

"She's bouncy some times. But most the time she's not always scattered brained." His face changed. "Do think too much out of whatever she's doing right now. He's gay."

"Why do both of you call every man gay?"

"Because I am, and the man she should be talking to right now is also. Who else has she called gay?"

"The bartender?"

"I understand now why he acted the way he did when I asked if they ever sleep together. Now I think I was hit on the other night. I don't know if I like that. Sorry, but I know the man she should be talking to." He was smiling at me.

"You didn't even notice you were being hit on?" He asked me.

"I don't pay action to things like that," I told him.

"You don't pay action to being hit on?" He asked me. This was getting old.

"No,"

"How do you," He couldn't find the right words. He was getting to a subject that he didn't know what to say.

"I don't. I haven't. That's why I don't notice." He looked away thinking about it. Then looked back at me.

"You don't date, you haven't what. How do you know if you're gay?" He wanted to know.

"It's a long story, it involves the man Sam went to get." His eyes went over my head again.

Help, Sam thought to me. I held up my hand and helped her back into the hot tube. But didn't let go of my hand. She turned my head to the side and I saw Ricky and Julia.

"Shit," I got out and headed right towards them. Ricky was holding her in place so she couldn't run away. "Just listen before you freak out." I told her.

"You forgave him?" She asked me and her eyes were tearing up.

"No," I was about to explain, when my control slipped. Everyone's thoughts flow throw my head.

"Peter," Julia reached forward.

"Don't," But it was too late, she touched me and my over loaded brain, was thrown into over drive. Julia's whole life flashed throws my mind. My knees gave out and I catch myself on the table. Ricky pulled Julia away from me. I got my feet moving and tried to find someplace quite.

I made it to my room and put in my head phones. As soon as I drowned out all the noise, I sat down outside and started rubbing my head.

"Please not right now love." I said when I heard the door open.

"I'm not Sam, I think I can help you." I looked over and saw Chris. He snapped his fingers, then next thing I knew he was knelling in front of me taking out the headphones. The only thing I heard was his voice?

"I don't understand?"

"Babe I froze time. I can't do anything about my own thoughts. But I can with everyone else's. What happened back there?" He asked me.

"I lost control of my control. Thank you," I leaned back in my chair and basked in the silence. When I opened my eyes, he was leaning over me.

"Does that happen a lot?" He asked me.

"No, at first all the time. You never wondered why I always was wearing my head phones. I lost control then took a trip throw Julia's mind. There was a lot I didn't need to know about my sister."

"What?"

"When she touched me, I saw everything. I saw too much." He looked me in the eyes. Then put his hand behind my head and kissed me. He pushed thoughts into my head. Most were from the week we spent together. They were too much, it was too much.

"Please," I said and he pulled back at once.

"That could be useful to know. Can that always be done?" He asked me.

"Touching, if we're touching, yes." He pulled up a chair next to me and sat down.

"Sam is persistent." He told me.

"She likes to make a first good impression. It's not common for her not to. She also wanted to meet you."

"Why?"

"Because you're an important part of my life. This is really the first time she's spent any amount of time around my family. I know everything about her life and she's ready to flip the table. I've shard a lot with her."

"You're shared with her?"

"Right before my senior year, I started up a business. I could run it by myself for a while, then it got a little out of control. That's when I hired Sam. When school was out I moved to New York, and moved her in with me. She's been my business partner ever since, even if she won't accept it. She's also knew about you. Not much, nothing really. But she knew who you are to me?"

I told him. I still wasn't ready to let him off the hock yet. He seem to take everything I said like it was nothing.

"Are you better?" He asked me.

"Yes, thank you." He got up, moved the chair back and handed me my I pod. I watched him closely and know what he was going to do before he did it. Then he was gone and the thoughts were back. I brushed my hair back and got up.

I walked back to the pool, already knowing he wouldn't be there. Julia and Ricky joined Sam and Taylor.

"What happened to you man?" Taylor asked when I sat down with them.

"Head ach, I think I drank too much yesterday." He took that as an answer right away.

"Did you get something for it?" Sam asked me, she was worried.

"Yes, don't worry." She still was worried. She's seen me crash a few times and they were never pretty.

Chris left, said he forgot about something and just left. He doesn't like me. Sam thought at me. I grabbed her foot and pulled her under.

"uh?" She said when she came up. She wiped off her face.

"Are you better now?" I asked her.

"Your mean, why would you do that?" I smiled at her. I wanted her to know nothing was her fault.

"Incoming." Julia said. Everyone looked over to her. She pointed out Diesel.

"You two or me?" I asked her. Sam turned around and saw him.

"You," Julia told me. I kissed Sam's head, as I got out and cut him off. We walked over to the side of the ship and stopped at the railing.

"Are you here for me?" I asked him.

"The further is back on track. Thank you for your help."

"It was the last time, black mail me, order me. It was the last time." I told him and turned around.

"You should have just told me," I stopped, dead in my tracks. I turned around and faced him.

"You have people to see what's going to happen, I see what has happened. Watch yourself, because you've crossed a line." I said in a cold voice.

"If you told me, you would have known where he was."

"If I wanted to find him I could have. I never looked. I didn't tell you because it's none of your damn business. Nothing about me is your damn business. If you push any more, I'm not going to control myself and what I do to you. I did the job I said I would, now I'm done. If I see any of your men, they will come back without a mind. Have I made myself clear?" I asked him. Then walked away. I got back in and Sam sat down on my lap. She was facing Taylor.

"What did Diesel want?" She asked me.

"Just letting me know he was having a good time. What about you love, are you having a good time?" I asked her.

"I am, but I'm getting puny." She kissed my check and got out.

"Follow her," I told Taylor. He got out and did want I said. I did see a smile thought.

"He didn't look like he was having a good time?" Ricky told me.

"I don't think he likes the fact that I'm not going to work with him again. I hate having to save the world. It's not my job, I don't want it to be my job. I like the job I always have." I told them. Julia leaned against Ricky.

"Your pretty good at saving the world, Peter." She told me with a smile.

"Don't thank me, Sam and Ricky did all the work." I told her.

"You made it happen and made me want to say maybe. You crated this beautiful ship, look around Peter. I haven't seen anyone who doesn't love it. Now we're heading off to bed."

"Oh god," I covered my eyes and got out of the hot tub. I couldn't believe I just had to hear and see what she was planning to do with Ricky. I slipped on my shoes, wrapped a towel around my waist and walked away.

I let myself in my room and showed. I changed and got into bed. I heard Taylor bring Sam back, they both wanted to a great good night kiss. I was about to get up and give them a little push, when Taylor did it. Sam opened the door smiling.

"Are you sure he's a nice guy?"

"He is, Julia said maybe." She stopped and looked at me.

"See I told you I would ruin everything." I pulled her to me. Kissed her head and held her.

"Maybe to them is a yes. Their first date, started out with a maybe. That's the answer Ricky's been waiting for. Yes or of course wouldn't be right to them. Like if I called you sweetheart. It would be off and not fit. He asked and Julia said maybe." I told her.

"I like sweetheart," She told me. I kissed her head and let her get up.

"Would you like me to start calling you sweetheart?" I asked her. She stood there and started thinking about it.

"No thank you. I like it, but it would be like me calling you honey." She made a face, turned and started changing.

"Honey, you've thought about calling me honey?" I asked her.

"Not until right now. When you call me Love, it's just saying you love me." She moved under the blankets and laid on my chest.

"I do love you Sam." She cuddled up against me. "Chris didn't leave because of you, he came over because of you."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can hear his thoughts like everyone else, are you still on for dinner tomorrow night?" She nodded and pulled the blankets closer.

"Yes dinner, you?"

"I'm going to walk around and check up on everything." She nodded but I know she was already falling asleep.

The rest of the trip was mostly work for me. I haven't seen Chris at all. I was getting upset over that. But at the same time I was slammed trying to make everyone do their own job.

We finely were at port. Julia and Ricky said goodbye and left. Someone came and took our bags and we headed up to meet with the staff.

It was a short nice meeting. Julia put her arms around mine and let me walk her out.

"Home," She said as I walked her to the car.

"Are you glad to be home?" She nodded and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"When do we go back to work?"

"Monday, but this weekend Ricky and Julia are going to come look at your penthouse. I'll sell it to them for what I paid if they want it. That is if you're alright with them moving in?"

"That's a great idea, I would love to take Julia shopping."

That's what we did, they bought the penthouse. Julia and Sam are close to becoming best friends. They go shopping everything Julia is in Town.

It hasn't been a lot in the last three months. But with two women and no limit, they made up for it. Sam has also got them to go with us to a charity even. Why is it that girls away like to play dress up.

"Peter," Sam waved her hand in front of me. I looked at her. "Did you hear anything I just said?" She asked.

"Sorry love," She nodded and looked down at the papers. "I'm back and promise to pay action." She nodded. In the last three mouths I've watched her go from over the moon happy, to in the gutter sad.

"It's fine," She said and started going over everything I miss. I took the papers she handed me and signed them.

"He still hasn't called?" I asked her when she was done.

"I really thought we had something together. He was nice and kissed better than anyone. I really thought." She said and the phone rang. I leaned forward to answer, when she picked it up.

"Mr. Peterson's office, how can I help you?" She asked. "Crags want to talk to you." She said and passed me the phone.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Dorsey is here for his interview. Are you joining us?" He asked me.

"We'll be right down. Thank you for the reminder." I said and hung up. "Let go," I got up and pulled on my jacket. She was looking at me like I lost my mind. I grabbed the files out of her hands and sat them on my desk. Fixed her shirt and skirt, put her arm around mine, then walked out of my office.

"What's got into you?" She asked me.

"I forgot we have an interview today. Crags is looking to hire a new writer." She nodded and let me lead her to the elevator. We road down to the 18 floor and got out. I stopped and didn't know where to go from there.

"Is it my turn to lead now?" She asked me with a smile. I nodded and she walked me to the Crags office.

"Good you're here, we're holding it in the confine room." He grabbed some things and walked us back out. We all sat down and coffee was brought to us.

"Why are we here?" Sam asked us.

"I wanted to be, I asked if we could sit in the next interview." She turned towards me and looked my face over.

"You're bored, you've never stepped back into an old business. We're here because you're bored? I had work to do, I have a whole lot of work to do." She was getting ready to start a rant.

"Yes and I'll help you do it. I'm not bored, I've been looking into all of the business." She folded her arms and sat back.

"I love it when you're on my floor." Crags said.

"Thank you, but we're not here a lot." I told him.

"All the same, nothing between you two has changed." Sam finely smiled and started reaching for the stack of papers. I moved around her and took them. She gave me the dirty look. But I leaned back and started reading throw them.

"I'm going back to work." She said and got up.

"Mr. Crags your 4 o'clock interview is here." The phone in the middle of the table said. He leaned forward, pushed a button and told whoever it was to send them right in. Sam just sat right back down.

"Mr. Crags," A man knocked on the door and stock his head in. Then opened it wider and left. Taylor walked in all ready for this interview. Then he saw us and stopped him in his place. Crags got up and meet him in the middle.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Crags."

"You also Mr. Dorsey, this is Mr. Peterson and Ms. Davis they own the company." He said as he walked him over to us. I stood up and held out my hand.

"Good to see you again Taylor, you remember Samantha." I said and sat back down. Crags sat down also, the papers were already in front of him.

"Sorry I forgot I had a meeting." Sam got up and walked out. Taylor watched her go.

"I think she's mad at you Peter." Crags said. Taylor looked back at us. "Now let's get down to why everyone's here." He said and got into the interview. Now I was board. Sam takes care of this, she's good at this. Sam did this to me on purpose. She was making me surf for trying to do the right thing.

"Anything to add?" Crags asked me. I looked over at him, they were both waiting for me.

"No," I shocked my head.

"Oh for the love of god," Sam said as she walked in. She shut the door behind her and came over. After dropping a stack of papers she sat down.

"How was your meeting?" I asked her. She leaned forward and turned off the speaker that was in the middle of the table. Then started firing off questions to Taylor. She asked him everything there could be asked about the job and his work.

She was making notes as all of this went on. Taylor started looking worried then scared.

"Crags will be in touch." She got up and walked out. I sat forward and pulled her notes to me. On the bottom read he'll do. I passed it over to Crags.

"That's a first. Mr. Dorsey you should be proud of yourself. She's never praises anyone before, I'll be in touch." Crags collected everything and walked out.

"Should I leave?" Taylor asked. He hasn't moved in the last few minutes.

"If you want, how long are you here?"

"I flow in last night and have an open ended ticket to leave. You set all this up didn't you?"

"I like your work. The piece you did for the braking dawn was honest. The fact you knew us, didn't change the piece. When we got back I started reading your work, then I checked up on your work and got ahold of crags."

"You won a magazine?" He asked me.

"Yes, I also own this building and all of the different business inside of it."

"You want to hire me?"

"I don't care either way. I own the business, but don't have much to do with it anymore. After looking throw your work, I past it onto Crags. I got you here for Sam."

"She never called me back." He told me.

"What?"

"I called her, I called her a few times. Then her phone was disconnected. She never called me back." I thought about it. Then told him a phone number.

"Was that the number?"

"Yes, I called it."

"You called the penthouse, I sold it a few weeks after we got back. Sam was living there until a few weeks before the cruse. Come on, or has she scared you off?" I asked him. He just looked back at the door. I got up and walked out. It took a few seconds to find my way out of there. I got to the elevator and hit the bottom.

"She's nothing like how she was on the cruise."

"Over look that, she's upset with me," I told him. The doors opened and I hit the button to my floor. When the doors opened, I walked out. Sam wasn't at her desk. I looked down the hall and saw my office door closed.

"It would be better if you waited here." He nodded, I walked over to my door and opened it. She was sitting at my desk with her arms folded.

"What the hell was that?" She asked me.

"Love,"

"Don't Love me right now, I'm mad at you. I want to be mad at you and yell at you and stay mad at you." I shut the door and walked over to her. She watched me, I knelled next to the desk and turned the chair to face me.

"You can do all of that, you know I like it when you yell at me. First I want you to answer fast question."

"Fine what?"

"What number did you give him?" She throw up her hands. Opened her mouth to start yelling. But her mind was working faster and she remember what phone number she gave him. Her eyes teared up.

"What must he be thinking? I didn't even think about it when I gave him my number." I wiped the few tears that fall and kissed her forehead.

"Go ask him," I said when I pulled back. She looked at the door and back to me.

"He's here?"

"Right outside, I didn't think he needed to come in and hear you yelling at me. Now get up out of my chair I've got work to do." She hugged me. I didn't catch her in time and we fell over. She kissed my check, got up and bounced out.

I got up and sat down. I started working, but I couldn't think. I've finely got Taylor here for Sam and I know she was happy about it. Now the only thing I could do was think about Chris. I picked up my phone and called Julia.

"What's up?" She told me.

"Am I getting you at a bad time?" I asked her.

"Not at all, you're saving me from falling asleep. So what can I do for you?" She asked me.

"I need to get ahold of Diesel." I told her.

"I'll see what I can do, give me five minutes and if he isn't there call me back." She said and hung up. I looked at the phone and hung it up. What was she talking about? I looked down at Sam's paperwork and tried to understand it.

"Julia said you wanted to talk to me?" I looked up and saw Diesel walk across the office and sit down.

"I'll own you a favor if you do one for me." He smiled.

"He's working right now, I'll send him to you when he's done. That is what you want isn't it." He asked me.

"Yes, don't make him though." He nodded at me.

"I'll just lie, you own me a favor." He said and was gone. I put the paperwork away and got up. Sam was going to need to do this or tell me what the hell she was writing in. I grabbed my coat and left.

I grabbed a taxi and headed home.

"Good evening Mr. Peterson,"

"Evening Jeff, how are you?" I asked him.

"Well thank you for asking." I nodded and headed to the door. "Um," I looked back at him.

"Ms. Davis drought home a man?" He nodded. I smiled at him and headed in.

After unlocking the door I listened before I walked in. The door was pulled opened.

"Hungry?" Sam asked me. She took my jacket and coat.

"Yes," I said, kissed her check and followed her into the kitchen. The table was packed with takeout food. Taylor was sitting at the table.

"You will like everything that has a black mark on the top." She told me and pointed out what she was talking about.

"The rest?"

"You won't like," She smiled and handed me a plate. I dice up my plate. I started eating, and then I wanted to know what was in the other boxes. I used my chop sticks and picked something out of the other boxes. As soon as it was in my mouth I know I didn't like it.

"I told you," Sam said and gave me a napkin.

"What is that?" I asked,

"Organ chicken, I told you, you wouldn't like it." She told me again.

"I wanted to know why I wouldn't like it. How do you know I wouldn't like it?" She gave me a look. Taylor started laughing at us.

"This is what I remember." He told us. Sam smiled at him, then looked over at me.

"You've never liked it. I know that because you've tried it before. That's why when you first walked in, I told you that everything you would like is marks. Why do you always have to try what you've been told you don't like." She throw up her hands.

"I don't always. Anyways what the hell do you write in at work? I was going to do your work, but didn't understand a word you wrote." She smiled at me.

"Then don't read my paperwork. Why are you doing my work anyways? Do your own." She said and waved her chop sticks at me. The piece of chicken flows out and hit me in the head.

"Thank you love, I really needed that." She started laughing. "Catch her." I said to Taylor. She fell out of her chair, from laughing. He did what I said and put her back in her chair.

"How long have you to known each other?" He asked, when she got herself under control.

"A little over 8 years. Maybe 7 of them, we've lived together." She told him.

"No we haven't," I told her. There wasn't a way we've lived together for 7 years.

"Forget he's here. We meet over 8 years ago when he put an ad in the paper for a personal assistant. I was surprised when we meet, never thought a high school kid would need a personal assistant. But for some reason he hired me and I agrees. He sent me to his office and I've been looking over everything ever since." She told him.

"You haven't lived with me for 7 years." I told her again.

"I'm getting mixed things here. What do you do now?" He asked her. I picked up my plate, kissed Sam on the head as I walked out and headed right for the living room. I turned on a movie and put my feet up as I eat.

Someone knocked on the door. I looked at it, and then looked back into the kitchen. Sam wasn't going to get it. I put my plate down got up and headed to the door. Who the hell would be knocking on the door? I unlocked it and opened it.

A very surprised Chris was standing there. He took a step back and put his hands in his pockets.

"Hungry?" I asked him.

"What am I doing here?" He asked.

"Probable nothing that Diesel told you, you would be doing here. Hungry?" I asked him again. Move out of the way and waited for him to walk in. He stood there looking inside thinking about it. Then walked inside. I shut the door behind him and showed him where the kitchen was.

"Chris," Sam hopped up and grabbed a plate for him. Then started telling him what everything was. "You remember Taylor, Taylor this is Chris." Sam said and sat back down. When he was done I nodded for him to follow.

"Why aren't we eating in the kitchen?" He asked. I sat down, grabbed my plate and put my feet up.

"Sam's encoring me." I told him. He sat forward with the plate on the coffee table. I took a couple of bits waiting for him to make up his mind.

"And why am I here?" He asked me.

"You knocked on the door during dinner, you should know better. Mom taught everyone the same things." I told him. He looked over at me.

"You know what I mean Peter why am I here?"

"The first time you left, I let you. Never once questioned you. This time I'm going to." I smiled at him. "Leave all you like, you'll still end up right back here until I'm finished." I told him. He looked at me a long time. Then back to his plate.

"Sorry," Sam said and held up a fork and chop sticks. He took the pair of chop sticks.

"Thank you," She waved it away and headed back into the kitchen. He started eating and watching the movie.

"How didn't you get Diesel to do it?" He asked.

"I own him a favor now, it's not hard to get someone to do something for you when you know they want something from you. For some reason my gifts are very important to him." I shrugged,

"You own him a favor?" He looked over at me.

"Yes, Emily and me aren't registered. I won't because I don't feel like it and my parents won't let Emily. So when they want me to do something they normal have to blackmail me into it. This way I get what I wanted and they get me to do something for them without having to jump throw hops."

"Diesel blackmails you?" He didn't sound very happy.

"Doesn't bother me very much, they make it so my business is legal." I shrugged.

"Should you be talking about this with," He nodded behind us.

"Among my many gifts I can make people forget what I don't what them to know. But he's paying action to Sam." I told him.

"Did I interrupt dinner?"

"No I think I did, I pulled same away from work today and stayed late to catch up for the both of us. But I couldn't understand what she wrote in, so I came home. They were already eating." He nodded slowly.

"I don't understand," He said.

"Sam lives here. Taylor is here because of her."

"Why are you here?" He asked me.

"This is my house. I bought it maybe 6 months ago, it has a better view. Sam was living in the penthouse, then moved in here with me." I told him. He looked around and taking all that in.

"Your place is nice."

"No thanks to me, but thank you. Sam did all this. I've learned to let her, or I'll come home one day and it's done. But without a TV." He smiled at me.

"That must have been hard?"

"It wasn't hard, just not what I was used to. It turned out in my favor though. Without a TV I read throw all the law books you would need, to become a lawyer." I told him. He just looked at me. "She bought a TV after that."

"Why did you do that?"

"I own a law firm. That's out of order. I started with the stock market. As we were getting sued, I read the books and started a law firm."

"Then you bought a ship?"

"While I was reading all those law books, I bought a book store. That got me into marking, throw that I bought a magazine. After the magazine I bought my first two ships. When I had enough money, I created my last ship. I did sale the book store."

"Why?"

"It would have taken more money to keep going them to make." I told him.

"No why did you do all that?"

"He gets bored and likes to stay busy. Moves on when something starts to get bored. He's stayed on the Braking Dawn the longest. But that's what he's worked towards getting." Sam said. She was leaning against the back of the couch. Taylor was behind her smiling.

"You have not lived with me for 7 years." She rolled her eyes. Then went throw the list of where I've lived and her living with me. "Thank you for making my point." She looked at me.

"Just because you weren't there doesn't mean I still wasn't living in your house. So you're wrong and I'm right. Now I'm kicking you out. Scoot." She waved her hands at me. I grabbed our plates, got up and walked out.

"I should leave," Chris said.

"Where to?" I asked him and started cleaning up the kitchen. I wrote the dates on all the boxes and put them away. When I was done, I looked back and saw he was still standing there trying to figure out what to say. I Turned off the light, kissed Sam on the head and walked down the hallway.

I opened my bedroom door and turned on the light. Turned on the TV and started the movie where I ended up at. Took off my shoes, pulled my shirt out of my pants and made myself a drink. I turned the TV as I walked over to my desk.

"For the love of everything Woman," I grabbed Sam's notes my drink. Chris was leaning against the door frame. I walked around him, put the paper in front of Sam's face.

"Explain,"

"That's where I left that, I needed it yesterday." She took the paper out of my hand.

"Explain what you're writing in?" I told her.

"I made it up. It keeps you away from my things. Put it back and remind me when I need it. Now go away." She waved her hands away at me. I started walking away. But I was looking the paper over. "And don't call your brother." She yelled after me. I sat down at my desk and kept looking at the papers.

"Values. She left out the values." I jumped and looked back. Chris was reading over my shoulder. I looked back at it and started adding things.

"Takes too long, have you found an answer yet?"

"To what?"

"Where you were going, you said you should leave, I asked where. Then you haven't said anything. I've been waiting for you to come up with an answer. If you can't, you can use one of the guest rooms." I took a drink and turned to face him.

"How big is this place?" He asked me.

"No clue, I like the view." I said and nodded behind him. He turned around and looked out the windows. The city was light up. I got up and stood next to him.

"Nice view,"

"Thanks, Chris I'm not forcing you to stay. Leave if you want to." He did, turned and just left. I downed the rest of my drink, put the cup on my desk and walked into my bathroom.

After the shower, I dried off and walked into my closet. I pulled on my sleeping pants. There was a drink waiting for me on my desk. I grabbed it, turned the TV back and laid down on the bed.

When my drink was empty, I turned off everything, shut the door and got into bed. I own Diesel a favor for nothing. Before I knew I was going to break down, I grabbed my head phones and turned on my music.

I woke with a start, when I felt someone moving into the bed with me. I pulled off my head phones and turned around. Sam never woke me up when she got into the bed with me. It was dark, I heard the mind before I could make up a face.

"Chris?"

"Tomorrow you can talk, I'll tell you what you want to know. Tonight, please let me sleep with you."

"You left?"

"I needed to get my bag, please babe?" He asked me.

"Did you ever think to say something before you left?" He just looked at me. "Never mind," I rolled back over, put my head phones away and laid down.

"I'll leave?"

"Chris, get the hell over here." I said to him. Slowly he moved behind me and put his arm over me. He smelled like he used to, he was warm and nothing has changed.

"You made me wait," I told him.

"I'm sorry babe."

"Should I forgive you?"

"No," I turned around and looked at him.

"If you don't want me to forgive you, why did you come back?" I asked him.

"I want you to forgive me, but if I was in your shoes I don't think I would ever be able to forgive you. So I said no, that doesn't mean that's what I want you to do." He told me.

"Do you still love me?"

"How could you ask that babe, of course I still love you? I haven't had felling for anyone else." He told me. I moved closer and kissed him. He put his arm around me and pulled me to him. We've changed, but still fit together.

The kiss got deeper and deeper. Without meaning it, I linked with his mind. Out of nowhere I got a picture of him and a woman. It was like I was shocked. I pulled back and got off the bed.

"Oh god," I said trying to get the picture out of my mind.

"Babe you're taking something out of contest. Please don't get upset without getting the whole story?" He said and followed me. I keep on backing away from him. Then he was in front of me kissing me. But was pushing the whole story at me.

"Babe I thought of you and still couldn't do it." He told me and laid his forehead against mine. "Besides that one time I haven't been with anyone in all these years. I knew all along who I was meant to be with. If I couldn't be with you, I wasn't going to be with anyone. I'll make up for everything I've done to you. When you see something please let me explain first. I'm so sorry, sorry for everything. I don't want to mess this up again." He said to me.

"That makes two of us."

"Babe you haven't ever done anything wrong."

"No, I never moved on. How could I when I'm still in love with you. And I'll try to not react to what I see. It's new, I've only linked with Sam and that was just to get it in control. It throw me, it surprised me and I'm sorry."

"You and Sam are close?" He asked me.

"Yes, dose that bother you?" I asked him. He kissed me softly.

"I remember a time where you had to deal with me being close to Julia. But I'm getting the felling there's something more, between you two thought. You don't give up your space easily, babe?" He asked me.

"I have room, but there is. How did you get back in?" He smiled.

"Sam let me in, she and Taylor were still watching a movie. I wasn't gone very long." He told me.

"I took a shower, watched the end of the movie and fell asleep."

"You can fall asleep in seconds. That doesn't mean anything. Do you know how many times I had to get you under the blankets? Now can we get back into bed?" He asked me. I kissed him, and then nodded to the bed. I was about to get in, when Sam yelling into my head.

Help,

"What's wrong?" He asked me.

"I'll be back," I opened my door and walked down the hall. Taylor saw me and pointed to the kitchen.

"She's pacing," He told me. He thought it was cute.

"Are you staying?" I asked him. He looked at the kitchen and didn't know. I walked to the front door and locked it. Then headed to the kitchen. She was pacing, biting her nails.

"I thought you got rid of that habit." I asked her. She stopped, pacing and put her hands behind her back.

"He's still here," She whispered to me.

"Yes, should he leave?" I asked her.

"He's still here, why is he still here. They always leave by now. Either I run them off or you do. What do I do now?" She asked.

"Love you've had men sleep over before." I told her.

"Yes but, help."

"Is he's things here?" I asked her. She put her hand on her forehead.

"I might have said that he could stay here instead of spending the money for a hotel." She told me.

"Does he have a room?" She nodded, and pointed to the wall.

"I put him in the one at the front of the hall."

"Then I don't see the problem." She started pacing again. I pushed off the door frame and walked over to her. I pulled her to a stop and held her. "Love I don't see the problem."

"I don't want him staying in the guest room." She whispered against my chest.

"Do you want me to get him someplace else to stay?" She shook her head no. I pulled back and framed her face. "Talk to me love,"

I've never had to ask a guy to sleep with me. It not like I want to jump him, but would like him to sleep with me. I don't know how to do that. She thought at me.

"Tell him that," I kissed her head, turned her around and walked her into the living room. I headed down the hallway when Sam yelled at me again. I dropped my head. Turned around and walked back, into the living room.

"Pacing again," Taylor told me.

"Sam," I folded my arms and waited. She stayed in the kitchen and waved me to her. "Samantha," She stomped her foot, then started pacing again.

"Can you fill me in?" He asked me.

"One minute," He nodded, I walked in to the kitchen. Before she could do anything. I grabbed her, picked her up and walked back into the living room.

"Sam?" She didn't say anything. I lifted her over him and sat her on his lap. She looked so small and innocent. She was scared and worried and didn't know what to do. I looked her in the eyes and waited. She saved me away. I walked to the hallways and waited.

"She's special to you," Chris said and put his arm around me holding me to him.

"Yes,"

"There's a story there, how bad is it?" He asked me.

"It's long and bad. Ready to go to bed?" I asked him. Sam was finely talking to Taylor. I took his hand and walked him back into my room.

"How did you know what was going on?" He asked me.

"She knows how to yell," I told him and got into the bed.

"I didn't hear anything,"

"Mind, she knows how to yell in my mind. It's helpful when she needs something." I told him. He moved behind me and put his arm around me.

"It could also be a pain." I know he was smiling.

"She only yells help. Julia on the other hand yells everything she thinks. I really don't want to hear everything she's thinking." He kissed my neck.

"No one wants to know everything Julia is thinking." I smiled and started to fall asleep.

"When do you have to leave?" I asked him quietly. He took my hand.

"Not until I need to work. But I don't have to leave. Go to sleep babe." He didn't need to tell me, I was already falling asleep.


	31. Chapter 31

I woke up and rolled over. My bed was empty. Why was my bed empty? I rubbed my face and brushed back my hair as I got out of bed. Where was Sam? I followed my nose to the kitchen and saw stopped.

"Chris?" He was sitting at the table with Sam. Then everything came back. Sam was shaking her head at him. Then got up and poured a cup of coffee. I took it and leaned against the island.

"That was not Scotch last night." I said after a few drinks.

"Don't know what you're talking about." She said as she walked out. I glared at her, then pushed off the island and walked into the living room. I pulled the toppers off the bottles and smelled the. When I found what I was looking for I grabbed it and walked back into the kitchen.

"Stop," Sam ran in and took it out of my hand. "What are you thinking, do you know how much this cost you?" She said.

"It could cost a million dollars, I don't care." She glared at me.

"I like gin," She told me.

"You hate gin," I told her and reached for it. She took a step back. "When have you ever drank gin," I asked her. She pulled the stopper and took a drink. I sat my cup down and waited. She keep her blank face, but didn't swallow what was in her mouth. I was standing in front of the sink and waited.

"What are they doing?" Taylor asked Chris.

"Stand down over Gin." Chris told him. Slowly she swallowed. I watched her eyes water. I held out my hand. She took another step back.

"Then set it down,"

"Why," She folded her arms.

"Because you like the bottle." She looked down and saw what bottle it was and she really liked it. But she wouldn't let go of it. I shook my head, and just waited. Her eyes got glossy and thoughts got fuzzy. I moved forward slowly. When she started tipping, I put my arm around her and grabbed the bottle. Then she passed out.

"So she can't handle her gin?" Chris asked.

"Give her a little while." I picked her up and laid her on the couch. Then poured the gin out.

"Any other tips I should know?" Taylor asked me.

"Like what?" I asked him, I picked up my coffee cup and walked over to the table.

"I've got that I need to stay out of the way when she's pacing. What else?"

"Yelling doesn't mean anything, if you just stand by and let her yell. It will be over. As soon as you raise your voice back, you're squared."

"I'm going to take it, you've yelling back?"

"At work, I still will. Anywhere else, I'll let her do her thing." Chris smiled at me. Taylor just nodded. I know in his head he was taking notes. "Heights shouldn't happen. At first she's good with them, but I wouldn't even try."

"There's a reason?" He asked me.

"I wouldn't push it," Chris got up and walked over to the fridge.

"There is and when she's ready she can tell you. But try not to put her in front of heights. If she's inside, she's just fine. But on roofs or other things, not so fine. Flying doesn't happen unless she's drunk." He nodded.

"Then how did she make it on the ship?"

"Never looked over. Looked out, but never over. If she does, she kind of freezes up. Call if that happens." I looked back and saw Chris was cooking.

"You cook?" I asked him.

"How did your mom let you out of the house without teaching you to cook?" He asked me.

"Because I owned a huge corporation, I stayed another year in school for no reason. I needed to take my place in my business. If I need to eat, I'll buy it or Sam cooks it. This is the poorest I've ever been, since I started up my business." I told him. He looked back at me.

"This is poor?" He asked.

"He bought this place before he put the rest of his money in the Braking Dawn. Fine, I don't like gin." Sam said as she walked in, then she saw Chris cooking.

"It's fine love, come sit down." She pointed to Chris. Pocked out her lip and just pointed.

"He's cooking?"

"I know, he's sorry and will make it up to you. Come sit down." I pulled out the chair and waved my hand at her. "You can go buy anything he messes up." She slowly walked over and sat down. But turned and watched him.

"I like that pan," She said.

"I know love,"

"I picked that one up in Germany, I had to talk them down and all that business with getting it home." She turned sideways to watch him with it.

"I know love, I was there. I paid more for you to get it home then you paid for the pan itself. He won't hurt it, but if he does. I'll take your personal back so you can get a new one."

"You hated Germany," She told me.

"Then I'm sure you could talk Julia into it. Your pan is fine." She leaned over again and watched him. "Would you like some coffee?" I asked her. She didn't answer me. I got up and started filling up a cup a coffee for her. Then she took over. She took a drink and watched out the bottle that had Gin in it.

I moved away from her and watched her hover over Chris. I smiled and sat back down.

"Don't touch her thing?" Taylor asked.

"Don't ruin then, long story. I'll fill you in later." He nodded behind me. Sam was able to push Chris out of the way and took over. He looked lost.

"Woman I was cooking," He said finely.

"Trying, you were trying to cook. I'm fixing what you were trying to cook. Shoo." She waved him away.

"You just shoo me away?" He asked her. She didn't answer her. He moved behind her, took what was out of her hand. Picked her up and moved her out of the way. That started the fight on who was going to cook.

We sat there and watched, and then someone knocked on the door. I got up slowly and went to answer the door. I opened it and didn't believe who it was.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked Ricky and Julia and hugged them. Then moved them out of way and let them walk in. They followed me into the kitchen.

"That's my pan and you can't use it."

"Deal with it," They were still fighting.

"Oh hey?" Julia said and was still reaching for the pan that was over her head. Chris looked over and froze. I watched him closely and saw him snap his finger. Then he was standing in front of me and everyone else was frozen.

"That is a cool trick." I told him.

"Yes it comes in handy. I should leave." He told me.

"Then leave after you change everything back. Taylor doesn't know about supers." He looked at me and couldn't believe I just said that.

"Alright," He said and headed back to where he was.

"If you leave because Julia and Ricky are here, don't come back. They are family and they show up when they are in town. You should be here because of me." He looked back at me.

"She's going to leave,"

"She can, but she might take Sam with her to go shopping. This is my house and I would rather you stay and them leave." He came over and kissed me. Then moved back into his place and snapped his fingers.

"You remember Taylor, Peter wants to give him a job. You know Chris. Can you please make him give me back my pan?" Sam asked them. Julia just stood there.

"Chris why did you take her pan?" Ricky came over and gave him a quick hug.

"I was cooking, how are you man?"

"You can cook, who would have thought?" I moved out of the room with Julia. I grabbed my coat as she walked out. Then I followed her. She walked over to the windows.

"He hates me," She said softly.

"No he doesn't."

"I can defect all powers, that means even Chris's little tricks. He didn't even want to be there because I was there." I shook my head.

"Julia he was going to leave because he doesn't want to upset you. Do you need me to show you everything over again? It will take time, but turn around and get your ass back inside." She looked up at me.

"I don't want him to hate me?"

"He doesn't, you have done nothing to me. You should hate me." Chris said from behind us. She turned around and ran into his arms. He held her while she cried. I left them and headed back inside.

"She dealing or running?" Ricky asked when I sat down.

"Dealing, how your pan love?" Sam was smiling.

"It's fine, do you think he's going to keep on cooking?" She asked me.

"Yes," She started bouncing.

"I don't understand?" Taylor asked.

"She likes fighting," I told him. He nodded and was watching her. "When did you get in?" I asked him.

"Our friend gave us a lift. Julia wanted to know why she had to get ahold of our other friend. We know now and understand. The first friend sends love and wants to see you. Also upset over something." I nodded and listened to what he didn't say.

"When do I have to go home now?" I asked him. He smiled at me and took a drink of his coffee.

"Dinner's at seven don't be late." Julia said and walked in.

"You could have called back and I would have informed you. Sam you coming?" I looked back at her. She just stopped and was looking at me.

"To dinner?" She asked.

"Yes," I didn't understand what was going on.

"To dinner?" She asked me again.

"You haven't taken her home before?" Julia asked me.

"Your mom doesn't really like me. There was yelling and arm waving and she doesn't like me." Sam said.

"Why in the hell would mom hate you?"

"I don't know," She told them.

"Sam would come down and work with me. Mom was over thinking what was really going on. To explain, I had to tell them about my business. Sam she doesn't hate you." I fill everyone in.

"Why do you have to hid everything, come on Sam come with us. Chris is going, you can bring Taylor if you want." Julia said.

"Who said I was going?" Chris asked.

"I did, Taylor would you like to come to our family's dinner with us and Sam?" Julia asked him. Taylor looked lost, he looked at everyone. "Wait how do you get there?" Julia asked me.

"I do own a car, Julia." She just looked at me.

"It's parked in the garage, he doesn't drive it around the city." Sam said and brought the plates over to the table. Everyone sat down and eat. When everyone was done, they started talking about their plans. Julia and Sam were going to go shopping, we were told to come and follow. Chris followed me out of the kitchen and into my room.

"Why do I have to go to dinner?" He asked me once the door was shut.

"Go tell Julia and Sam that you don't want to. I'm there for the money." He kissed me.

"No to dinner."

"Again go out there and talk to Julia." He kissed me. Then let me lead him to the bathroom. I started kissing him as I pulled him into the shower.

"Your dad is going to be very upset." He told me as he pulled back.

"You can deal with him, Chris have you been home. Does you dad even know if your alive?" I asked her as I turned on the water. He waited till I turned around.

"He knows I'm alive. A few times throw out the years he's came to see me. I've made it to town, but could never drive throw the boarders. He's came to meet me." He told me.

"You never called me?" I told him.

"I've tried babe, I couldn't do it. I know I've hurt you and couldn't do it. I couldn't face what I've done to you." I pulled him to me and kissed him again. This time I didn't let him pull back. I was also as tall of him now.

He moved us so I was against the wall and he kissed down my neck.

"I remember everything about you." He said and kissed right behind my ear.

"Chris, it's been" I said as I felt his hand moved between us. I couldn't take much more. He cupped me and slowly started to rub.

"I know," But he didn't stop. I started thrusting in his hands.

"Chris," I said throw monas. He pulled away and started kissed down my chest. "Chris," I called out when he covered my dick with his lips.

It didn't take anything to get me to come. He moved back up my body and kissed me.

"I remember everything, you've grown up." He told me.

"It happens, you've filled out." I ran my hand down his abbs.

"Taller," He said and put his head on my shoulder as I started rubbing him.

"Yes it happens when I grow up. I was 15 when you left. I'm 25 now Chris. I'm taller, filled out and grow up." I told him. He put his hand on either side of me, to hold himself up. "You've filled out. I believe your taller even." I heard him laugh then moan.

"Babe,"

"Ride it throw." I told him, then he came. He stood there catching his breath.

"Babe," I kissed me soundly. When he pulled back I moved under the water.

We both washed up and got out. I dried off and headed to the closet. He walked past into the bedroom. When I walked out, he was already dressed. I sat down and tied my shoes.

"Why are you the money?" He asked me.

"That's just how it ends up. Sam wouldn't have asked, if she was going to pay." I shrugged. Grabbed my wallet and phone and put them in my pockets. Then put on my watch and sun glasses. I saw him trying to understand.

When I was done, he opened the door and followed me out. Ricky was sitting down in the living room waiting.

"How'd Julia talk you into it?" I asked him. He got up and followed me into the kitchen.

"Didn't really have much of a say, I carry the bags." I grabbed a drink for everything. Taylor walked in to the kitchen and took one.

"You don't have to go to dinner." I told him.

"Ya man you don't. But if you do no one will really notice you over Chris. He should have everyone busy most the night." Ricky said.

"Why?"

"He left 10 years ago and hasn't been back." Julia said and sat down on Ricky. Taylor looked around at everyone.

"What?" He couldn't believe it.

"What is everyone doing here?" Sam asked when she found us.

"Waiting on you, ready?" Julia asked. She got up and walked out. I stayed were I was and waited. The door opened and I know they walked out. I leaned against the island and waited. Minutes later, the door opened and again.

"What are all you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Oh you're ready to leave Love, I had no idea." She glared at me, turned around and walked back out. I still didn't move. This time she didn't make it to the door. She came back with my coat.

"Can we leave now please?" She asked me. I pulled on my jacket.

"Let's go." I said as I walked around her. I got to the door and turned around.

"Peter." Sam asked.

"I'll meet you down there." I walked into my room and over to my desk. I pushed in the coed on my desk and opened the hidden drown. I grabbed some money and closed the drown. Chris was waiting at the door for me.

"Do you think if I wait any longer, they'll go without us?" I asked Chris. He pointed outside. I opened the door and Sam was there pacing.

"Ready Love?" She pushed the bottom as she was past.

"I have nothing to wear?"

"You're going shopping with Julia. You'll find something to wear. The door opening?" She nodded and walked in. We followed her. I put my arms around her and held her to me. "Have you looked throw your closet, I'm sure there's something you can wear." I said to her.

"I don't want to ware just anything?" She told me. I kissed her head.

"Then it's a good thing you're going shopping with Julia." She nodded and walked out when the doors opened. I stopped when I saw what was parked out front.

"Sam?"

"Jeff drove it up, there's trunk space and fits everyone and you won't have to over tip anyone." She told me. Jeff walked over and handed me the keys.

"Thank you Jeff." I tipped him and walked around. I got in and started the SUV. When everyone was in I pulled into traffickers and followed where Sam wanted me to go.

I found a place to park and everyone got out.

"I hate driving." I told her.

"But you do it so well, there was no yelling and you didn't want to kill the starting wheeled. Anyways when was the last time you drove it?" She asked me.

"Last winter," She gave me a look and pulled Julia inside. The guys followed.

"Ms. Davis, how are you?" A woman walked over once she saw her. Then she saw me. She waved her hand to get someone else over.

"Mr. Peterson, haven't seen you in here in a while. What are we shopping for." I could tell she was already counting the money.

"There shopping," I told her and folded my arms. Her face didn't change, but her thoughts did. She turned back to Sam.

"Now ladies what are we shopping for." Thank god, Sam got her to walk away. I sat down in the sitting area.

"What was that about?" Chris asked.

"I buy my suits here. When Sam makes me." He nodded and smiled. He knew how much I hate shopping. Ricky pulled out a book and started reading.

"I'm surprised Julia doesn't make you?"

"She hasn't visited before meeting Sam. We've only seen each other when we're both make it home at the same time. Sam makes me buy clothes when she fills I've been wearing them too much. But I make her shop also." He looked over at me.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"She'll go with Julia, but hardly ever buys anything. She grow up with nothing and it's hard for her to remember she has things now." I told him. He looked at me.

"There's a lot I'm going to need to learn?" I nodded.

"Sam likes to window shop. Has she let you see her closet?" I asked him.

"It's huge." He told me, and then thought about it. "And almost empty." I nodded at him.

"That's why it looks huge. Most of the clothes she has is from evens. That's one of the things she does spend money on, it's a woman thing and makes her fell like a princess. It's just something, that makes up who she is." I shrugged.

"Event's?" Chris asked me.

"Charity's and things like that." Ricky added. "Wait, did Sam say Peter was offering you a job?" Ricky asked.

"Yes, I'll be head of the travel section." He told them.

"Don't you have a job?" Ricky asked.

"Yes, but I travel year wrong and get half the pay." Ricky leaned forward and looked at me.

"Why haven't you offered me a job, he gets one." I raised my eye brow.

"What would I offer you? I offered him a job where he already works. Why do you want a new job? Talk to dad, he can offer you a job." I asked him. But that got me thinking.

"Stop that," Sam said, we looked over at that.

"What?" I asked her.

"Whatever you're thinking." Then she held up two different ties. I pointed to the right one, she looked at the two different ties. Then looked back at me. I pointed to the other one. She nodded and put it around her neck and started tying it.

"What new business are you thinking about getting into?" She asked.

"Ricky wants a new job." She took the tie off and held it up. She looked it over and was thinking about it. Then looked over at Ricky.

"You want a job?" I watched her. She was ready to get into business mood. She waved me up. I stood there as she put on the tie.

"Taylor gets a job." She stood back and looked the tie over. Then pulled it off and put on the other one. She tried it.

"Taylor was offered a job, he was offered the job that is already in Peter's building." She stood back and looked it over. She didn't like either of them.

"It's the shirt Love," She looked at the shirt. Took the tie off and walked away. I sat back down.

"Would you want to stay in the field your already in?" Sam asked when she came back with a shirt. I stood back up and let her dress me. Then she put the tie on she liked.

"With our friend maybe ever once in a while. Besides that, I don't know?" She nodded and took everything off me and walked away. I followed her. The woman jumped to at once. I grabbed Sam and pulled her in the dressing room. I put her in a room and held the door close.

"What can I get you?" She asked me.

"Dresses, summer and light. Pants, skirts and shirts."

"Peter let me out." Sam yelled.

"We're shopping for you, not me." I looked at the woman and waited. She jumped and ran off to do my betting. "I like the first tie." I told her.

"Then get them both. Peter let me out."

"No, we're here to go shopping for you. You said you didn't have anything to wear. So here we are and you're going to buy things. I'm here and paying." I told her.

"You don't have the money."

"Love I have enough. You mange my money, you know this."

"Fine, but you have to get the second tie." I opened the door.

"I'll get them both and the shirt. Now stay and wait." She kissed my check and let me walk away. I sat down and waited with the guys.

"What would you want to go into? Because short of buying a musing, which I don't plan on doing. I don't know what to offer you." I asked Ricky.

"We do what we do, because we have the talent to do it. Mostly we work for Rangerman and our friend, because of that. Plus Julia or Ranger would let me rob banks." I laughed at him.

"If you ever got caught, dad would be the one to find you. Why not ask him for a different job?"

"We do and something comes up, it's easy to get out of it. I want something that isn't easy." I nodded and started thinking about it.

"Would Julia know if I asked you to rob a bank?" He thought about it.

"You kind of need both of us, she would find out. I could bind fold her. But she knows when I'm pulling one over her. But maybe with Chris I could do it." He told me. Chris put his arm behind me.

"In and out, it's do able." Chris said.

"I can't figure out if your joking or not." Taylor asked us. Chris and Ricky looked at me.

"Joking, do you really think I would have someone robe a bank for me." He looked around and was thinking about it. "I'm by the book, if you met my dad you'll understand why." He nodded but didn't believe me.

"Your being flagged," Chris told me. I looked at him and saw he was nod to the dressing room. I looked over and saw Sam waving me over. I got up and walked over to her.

"What's wrong Love," I asked her.

"This lady wants to dress me in different underwear." She told me and was frisking out. "Will you," And pointed behind me. I kissed her head. She went back into her dressing room. I flagged the woman down, took what was in her hands and walked back into the dressing room. She flipped throw them and took what she wanted. She was happy and hopped back into the dressing room. I handed everything back to the lady.

"What was that about?" Chris asked. He was waiting for me just outside.

"She's shy." He nodded and looked behind me.

"Taylor still thinks were robbing a bank." He smiled.

"I'll fix it, I wouldn't ask you to rob a bank."

"Do you need money that bad, to think about robbing a bank?" I laughed and shook my head no.

"Ricky took it the wrong way. He really would just like to rob a bank. He has a list. Never mind, I have money." He looked my face over. I didn't know how to explain.

"He has a list?"

"Yes, things he would like to do. It's on it. More to know he can. I could buy a bank." I told him.

"No you can't" Sam yelled out. Chris was smiling. Then leaned forward and kissed me.

"I'm going to sit back down." I nodded and turned around.

"Why can't I buy a bank?" I asked her.

"I have reports, it's not good. Buy a newspaper. There good." She told me.

"A newspaper," I said and thought about it.

"Everyone wants newpapers, get into that." She told me.

"But a bank, we use banks." I told her.

"Peter, Monday I'll show you all the reports I have. Banks aren't good business. You'll lose money before you get money. You only want it because you want to play with it. Newspaper, repot on who plays around with them." She told me.

"Why do you want a newspaper?" I asked her.

"Reports Monday," Then opened the door and showed me. She was in a cute summer dress. She turned around and showed me it.

"Very nice," She smiled.

"No banks," Then walked back into the dressing room. Julia came out next with her. They both had their hands full. We checked out, there was also the shirt and ties for me. When we were done, we put the bags in the svu and walked to get lunch.

After lunch we left and headed home. As we drove home and I got a chance to push the thought about robbing a bank out of Taylor's mind. I parked in front of the building and Jeff opened the doors. I gave him the keys with a tip. Grabbed the bags and headed up with everyone. When I walked in, I didn't know what to do.

Chris took my hand and walked me into my room.

"What's wrong babe?"

"This is new, I don't know what to do?" I told him and waved my hand between us. He smiled at me.

"You don't have to do anything, you've never had to do anything. I'm fully capable to entertain myself. What would you normal be doing, if I wasn't here?" He asked me.

"Nothing, I would watch a movie and check my emails." He moved away from me and waved me on. I looked at him and moved over to my desk. He sat down and turn on the tv.

I started checking my emails, then leaned back and just watched him. Not a lot has changed. I sat there and started remember the week we spent together. I got up and walked over to him.

"Are you into this movie?" I asked him.

"Babe it's the news," I looked up and he was right. Then leaned over and kissed him. We were linked at once. He saw everything I was just thinking.

I want to say that I took my time and showed him that I really did love him. But as soon as he started thinking about, it was on. We got out of our clothes and onto the bed before I could even ask. He let me run the show.

He took everything I gave him and more. When we were both spent, I laid behind him, holding him to me.

"Once you were ready, you were never shy about sex. I'm glad that never changed." He told me.

"Some things don't change," We were quite for a while. "Are you coming with me tomorrow?" I asked him.

"I haven't found a way out of it yet." I laughed at him. He rolled over and saw I was really laughing at him.

"Not getting in the car works. If you don't want to go, all you have to say is that. Dad can be a handful. But you should remember that."

"Oh I remember, that's not what I'm worried about. It being too much for you is what I'm worried about. I've hurt you enough babe." He told me.

"I won't even be noticed with everyone I'm bringing home with me. Plus everyone will be on their best behavior because of Taylor. But whatever you see you have to keep it to yourself and away from Diesel." He nodded.

"Why?"

"Because there's things he wants to know that we haven't told him. For one, all of my gifts." He nodded again.

"Why don't you want him to know?"

"Because I'm not registered and I don't plan on ever being registered. I've let them black mail me because it cleans up my dirty work."

"How is it you're not registered?"

"Because I don't want to be. When I was younger, I made up my mind and haven't changed it. Everyone else hasn't cared. My parents won't let Emily registered, When she gets older it will be her chose." I told him.

"What is everyone's powers, what are yours. You've seen everything I can do." He told me. I didn't need him to give me something just to answer.

"Dad heals, he can't be killed. Mom is a manipulation and empathy. She can make people do what she wants. Julia is invisible and malice manipulation. Ricky's Vision and Sight is anything he wants. Sara can Duplicate and is a shift shaper. Max knows everything. Lily is telekinetic and teleports. Steven has speed and straight. Emily is a sensor and absorber. That's why we hid her. She knows when a super is around and can use anyone pure power." I told him.

"And you?"

"Everyone power advanced, most were slow and steady. I'm came out of nowhere and smack me upside the head. It started with just reading thoughts. Then I could see what people were thinking. That moved onto seeing what happened to a person when I touched them. While that was happening, the use of my brain grows. Next I could push thoughts into people's brain and take thoughts out. When I got ahold of that, I learned I could put thoughts into someone's mind. While all that was happening I found out I could link my mind with someone. I had to learn how to lock down my mind or I could over lode the other persons. But this time, I could use 40 of my brain. What showed up about a year ago was Illusion. At first it was just in someone's mind, but I've been working on pushing them out for everyone to see. I can go for a few minutes and a small room size. I don't know what going to happen next?" I told him.

"All your powers come from you mind?" I nodded.

"As they grow so does the amount of my brain I can use. Max knows everything, I have to learn it." I shrugged.

"Everything?"

"He had to learn it, but he can look at something and know it. But he doesn't boost it. Why do you snap your fingers?" I asked him.

"I don't have to, but it's easier. It so I make sure I don't to the wrong thing. You know I can freeze time. Then you saw that I can speed molecules up to blow something up, not I can throw, something close to a ball at someone. Then I can slow them down to freeze things. I don't think my powers will advance anymore." He told me.

"So you snap to freeze time, what else?" I asked him.

"Two fingers to throw. I wave them. To blow something up, I wave my hand and to freeze something I just hold up my hand. Why do you want to hide Emily?" He asked me.

"She absorbs powers, any and every super's powers. It doesn't matter what they are, she takes in the pure power. She also knows can tell where supers are. That's could be used." I told him. He thought about it.

"It's not in my right to tell anyone. Don't worry." He pulled me to him and kissed me. "Now is Sam going to get upset if I cook again?" I nodded and followed him up.

"If you're cooking with her pots and pans, yes. But she likes fighting with you." I pulled on my pants and buttoned them up. He looked back at me.

"What?"

"It's fun for her, but she's already order dinner. Ricky and Julia have left and headed home. They have plans." I told him.

"Why did you order dinner?"

"I think you'll like it." I pulled on my shirt and waited for him. When he was dressed, we walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Sam was already setting the table. Taylor came into the kitchen with bags. We sat down and eat a great meal. I cleaned up and let them go do what they wanted to. Chris watched me.

"Are you sure you want to take me with you tomorrow?" He asked me. He wasn't so sure about this anymore. When I was done I turned and faced him.

"That's your chose Chris. If you don't want to go you don't have to. I'm going because Julia is home for one and I haven't been there in a few mouths." He came over and lend his forehead against mine.

"I guess I should go see my dad?" I kissed him.

"You do have a brother and sister also. Believe or not, they have missed you."

"They didn't even know me."

"They know you enough to say you were there brother." He didn't believe me. We'll we'll just have to see tomorrow. My bet is Julia has already called home and told them he would be there. We went into the living room and watched the movie they were watching.


	32. Chapter 32

The next morning I woke up in bed. I didn't know how I got there, but I know I was laying on top of Chris. I looked up and saw he was watching me.

"How long have you been up?" I asked him.

"This link is pretty cool, I got to see what you were dreaming." He told me.

"It works both ways." I looked over at the clock and saw it was time to get up. He followed me into the shower. I got dressed and went to get some coffee. Taylor was sitting at the island eating a bagle. He nodded to me as I walked back into the room. I have Chris a cup and put my shoes on.

When he was ready I walked out with him. Sam was slipping on her shoes in the hall when we walked out. She smiled at us and moved out of the way so we could pass. I grabbed paper cups and filled them up with coffee.

I added sugar and creamer to Sam's. Taylor and Chris just put there lid on there. I added some sugar to mine, put the lid on both and shook them. I took a drink and put everything in the dishwasher.

"Ready?" Sam asked us. I gave her, her cup and followed her out. I pulled on my jacket on and got in the elevator. When we walked outside my car was waiting for me. Jeff handed me my keys.

"Explain?" Chris said and opened the door for everyone else.

"Don't like it?" I asked him. He looked the car over again.

"What's not to like." He said as he got in. I smiled and got in also. After I started the car I pulled into ticket and headed home. When I pulled to a stop in front of the gate, I unrolled the window and pushed in the code.

The gate opened and I pulled forward. I pulled into the garage and turned off the car. After I got out, I helped Sam out. She looked around. So was Chris and Taylor. I watched the doors closed in place. I walked over to the door and started opening it when the door was pulled out of my hands.

"Peter," Emily said and jumped at me.

"Are you happy to see me?" I asked her.

"Yes, sissy isn't here yet. But daddy said she should be. How long are you staying? Who did you bring with you? Daddy said everyone should be on their best behavior. Sara isn't here, she's at school. Max is here though. He got back a few days ago. Did you know where he went? He just got back from Russia." She told me.

"I'm heading back tonight. I brought Chris, Sam and Taylor with me. I glad everyone will be on their best behavior. I know Sara is in school. But she'll be home in a few mouths. I didn't know Max was home, I did know where he was going. Did he bring you anything?" I asked her. She just looked at me and didn't know how I answered everything.

"Yes, he brought me Russian Nesting dolls." She said as we walked into the kitchen. I sat her on her feet and hugged my mom. She pulled back and looked behind me.

"It's nice to see you again Sara, and you must be Taylor. It's nice to meet you." She kissed Sara's check and shook Taylors hand then looked back at Chris.

"So you finely found your way back?" She asked him.

"It took some time," She walked over to him and hugged him. I know she was saying something to him because he nodded. I looked around and listened to everything around me.

"Dinner's not till seven, guys are outside by the grill and your family should be here right before 7 Chris. Peter why don't you should everyone around." My mom told me. I kissed her check and walked out. We were in her way.

"So you're not the only person in your family who is sensual?" Taylor asked as we headed to the front of the house.

"No, my parents own Rangerman scrutiny." I opened the door to the living room and sat down. Taylor was just looking at me and couldn't understand.

"Your parents own Rangerman, the Rangerman?" He asked me.

"Yes,"

"I thought Rangerman was owned by Carlo Manco?" He asked after he thought about it. I could hear where his thoughts were going.

"It is, Carlos and Stephanie Manco. I go by Mr. Peterson because I get to many looks from people. It was mostly Sam's idea."

"Your parents helped you?" I shook my head and looked past him to the fish.

"My business all started with a poker game. I was 17 and I put my whole life savings up for a pair of aces. I won, I was a little lucky and a whole lot of cheating. I tripped my life savings, the next week I put it into the stock market after learning about it. Three months later I was a silent boss for a small office working with and around the stock marker. Five months later that small office went from 10 to 50 and I hired Sam. She because boss and started getting everything into better sharp for me. By 9 mouths we were still at 50 but moved into a better office building. I also made back all the money I put into the business. Around two years after that we were sued, that's what gave us the law office. 8 months later I bought a marking firm. That quite moved into a magazine. Then I put two ships in the water and bought a travel agency. We were all over New York and finely I bought my building and moved everyone into it. That was two years ago and ever since I've been working up to the braking dawn. I'm still a silent boss, only the head bosses of each field know who I am." I told him.

"So, wow." He said.

"You're lucky to know that much. Peter has never stepped back into a business before. We over view everything and make sure it's running from top shape. But no one beside the heads of the fields knows Peter owns the whole building." Sam told him.

"I still don't get Mr. Peterson?" He said looking around.

"Peter son are you in here?" My dad walked into the room. He looked us over. I smiled at him.

"That's how, I was just started working for peter and he was on a call with me and that's what I heard. I started calling him that." Sam told him. Dad smiled and leaned against the wall.

"I thought mom told you to show everyone around?" He asked.

"We were getting there," He nodded and walked out. Chris let out a breath that he was holding. I got up and showed Sam and Taylor around. "So what do you think of the batcave?" I asked as we headed down stairs.

"The Batcave?" Taylor asked.

"Dad made the house for mom. He's her personal batman." Lily said from the couch. I hugged her. We all sat down and I put my arm around her.

"How are you princess?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine," She told me and I knew she was lying. She was upset and it didn't take long to pin point why she was so upset. She put on a good face and smiled at Chris.

"Did you have fun playing JI Joe?" She asked him.

"Maybe a little?" She nodded and bit her lip.

"And did you have fun playing spy?" He was taken aback by that one.

"Not as much." She nodded to him.

"Good, I would hate to have to tell daddy you had fun." I kissed her head. She looked down at her phone. She was waiting for someone to talk to her. "Wait who are you?" She looked up at Taylor?

"My boyfriend." Sam told her. She nodded and looked at me.

He's why we have to be on our best behavior? She asked. I leaned in and kissed her head again.

"Chris's family we'll be here also." She nodded and looked back at her phone. I looked back and saw Steven headed down stairs.

"Why aren't you out with the guys?" I asked him.

"They moved onto food, came to say high." I bumped his hand. He moved over and sat down also.

"How's school going?" I asked him.

"You know, you should make it home more often. Watch some of the games?" He said and asked at the same time.

"Things are slowing down, I should be able to make it home more often." He smiled. "Don't tell mom or I'll be here every weekend." He was laughing now.

"Could only get away with it some much, could you. We'll don't be an ass." He said and nodded to who he didn't know.

"Steven you remember Chris. Sam is my partner and her boyfriend who was dragged into tonight is Taylor. This is Steven the second youngest and Lily the third."

"Sorry man, you should have been given the worrying. I swear mom should post it at the gate. Batcave is forever." He was shaking his head. Lily trenched up.

"No always." She got up and walked out. I watched her and looked at Steven.

"What's that about?" I asked. He watched her also.

"Mary's still MIA." I just looked at him.

"I've missed too much." Chris said. "What happened, when was this?" He asked us.

"About a year ago, they got done with school. Max didn't want to go to college and instead he wanted to travel. Mary headed to collage after the summer was over. Max hasn't really been home since." Steven told him.

"But,"

"Ya I know, she's Lester's daughter. We don't know, he won't talk to us about it and she won't talk to anyone about it."

"She headed off to school and hasn't been home since." Steven added for me. Chris just looked at us.

"But, I remember them getting married when they were 6."

"Thing do change don't they." Julia said walking down the stairs. Ricky was behind her and they sat on the chair facing us. "Sara and Zoe are home more than she's been home." He didn't understand that one.

"Zoe is like her other half." I told him and hoped he understood what I was saying. He nodded and looked back at Julia. "They got into Yale and are in there last year. Don't ask me what there major is, there all over the map. Mary went to?" I couldn't remember.

"MIT, should following after her father. At less she can sit still more than five minutes."

"Cour team still strong here?" Chris asked.

"You know it's grown." Was all Julia said? The doorbell rang. I looked at my watch and saw it was almost dinner time. "It would be better just to get it over with." Julia got up and pulled him out of the room.

"Your dad still doesn't know?" I asked after them. I just shook my head and leaned back into the couch looking around.

"Know what?" Sam asked me.

"About him, about them. Chris he wasn't in the best place with his family when he left." Ricky told her. She nodded and leaned against Taylor thinking about everything.

"How long do you think we should wait down here?" Steven asked us.

"Woman?" Ricky shrugged and couldn't answer. We talked about nothing while we were waiting. Emily came hopping down the stairs.

"Dinner," I got up and picked her up heading back up stairs. Both tables were filled with people and food. I thought about it and sat down next to Chris.

I have a little problem. He said to me once I was sitting. I looked at him waiting. I said I would do something with them tomorrow. Your mom said I was welcome to stay here tonight. I nodded and leaned back in my chair thinking about it.

"Later," He nodded and the food was passed around. Dinner was great. Everyone made Sam and Taylor feel welcome and part of the group. Max was here and I could tell how pulled back he was from everyone. He was braking on the inside even though he wasn't showing it on the outside.

After dinner Chris family left. The guys left also and it was just us now. Mom hear us into the living room and sat down.

"How upset would you two be if you stayed a tonight?" My mom asked Taylor and Sam. "Chris has plans with his family tomorrow and I don't trust him not to make them if Peter isn't here." She smiled at the thought.

"Just in case this happened there's our bag's in the truck." Sam told her. She was fine with staying.

Work our magic. She yelled at me. I leaned into Chris and flicked my fingers. He did and looked down at me.

"Sam was lying." He nodded again and flicked them again and my mom was there.

"Only they are, I can't be sure Sam would be in the same place if I unfroze her." He told me. I looked at my mom.

"We need out bags." She waved me with her and we went to find Lily.

"Honey we'll you take Peter home really fast?" She nodded and in second we were standing in my living room. I got four bags together and nodded to her. We were in her room again. I put our bags in the trunk of the car and leaned against Chris again. My mom came in and stood where she was. Chris flicked his fingers again.

"When did you pack bags?" Taylor asked her.

"While you were in the shower. I sent the bags down with Jeff." He nodded and was alright with it. Mom waved us with her.

"Peter and Chris you know where you're staying. This is the guess room. If you need anything please let someone know." She said and walked away. I went to get out bags with Chris. He took ours and I sat there's in there room. Taylor was lying on the bed with Sam fast asleep in his arms.

"Sorry if you don't want to stay." He looked around.

"I haven't stayed in hotels as nice as this. It's fine, but I think I'm going to follow Sam's lead and head to bed." I nodded and closed the door behind me. Chris was leaning against the door to our room. I walked over to him and he pulled me in and shut the door behind us.

"Do you think the boyfriend rules still apply?" He whispered against my lips as he kissed me.

"I'm pretty sure no, but you could also snap your fingers." He started kissing me deeper. Then there was a knock on the door. I pulled away and opened it. My dad was standing there and he had a blank face on. I moved out of the way and let him walk in.

"Should I sit?" Chris asked and my dad nodded. I shut the door and started taking off my shirt.

"How much are you still working with Diesel?" My dad asked.

"In the past I didn't care. Now that I do, very little." That wasn't the right thing to say. I sat down and took off my shoes.

"You've always had a chose?" My dad said in a cold voice.

"No, and yes. In the last few years yes I've had a chose. At that time I've thought I've fucked up too much to return." My dad took that in.

"Have you told your dad?"

"About my powers, no. He never really asked where I was. Whatever he could be thinking couldn't be as bad as the truth."

"Alright, fuck up again." My dad said and walked out. Chris looked at me. I took off my pants and laid them on the rest of my clothes.

"I wonder why you dad understand?" He asked himself.

"Because he fucked up with mom a lot." I kissed him. "Remember you'll keep coming back till I'm done with you." I said against his lips.

"I'll be making this up for the rest of my life babe. I'm so sorry." He told me.

"Good, I love you." He kissed me and laid his head against mine.

"I love you to babe. Your everything." He said, but something flashed past his mind. I pulled back.

"What?" He looked at me. "Show me." He still wasn't understanding.

"What?"

"You have a tattoo?" He smiled and pulled back. Pulled off his shirt and lifted his arms up and showed me. On the underside of each arm close to his arm pits was his tattoo. Mixed together with something was my name. Half on each arm.

"I'm not a girl." He said.

"I think it's bad ass."

"I'm half fire and ice. I mixed your name into each. Peter on one side and Monca on the other. I'm not a girl and I won't brand myself. But I love you and your everything to me." He told me and lowered his arms. I pulled his head to me and kissed him.

"I love you also and you are the only person for me." We moved to the bed and kissed the whole way. It wasn't intece just full of love and passion. He laid behind me with his arm around me.

"What's wrong?" He asked me.

"The house is just very loud." I said and rubbed my temple. He leaned up and looked at me. Then reached over me and opened the night stand. There was my head phones and cd player. He pulled it out and handed it to me. I pulled the head phones on and hit play.

He held me against his chest. It didn't take long for my mind to calm down and I fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning and Chris was still sleeping. I pulled off my head phones and got out of bed. He just rolled over and stayed asleep. I used the bathroom and headed to the bathroom.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. My mom filled me up a cup a coffee. She smiled at me and brushed my check.

"Honey put on some pants." I laughed and walked back up to my room and grabbed a pair of sweats. When I walked back into the kitchen my mom gave me my cup back.

"Thank you, who's cooking?" She smiled at me.

"Your dad's going to cook this morning once he gets back. I'm going to get ready." She kissed me check and started walking away. "You need to come home more often, I can still feel your uneasiness." I looked back at her.

"I know." She winked and walked away. I moved and looked out the back door.

"Son?" My dad asked.

"Just waking up." I told him.

'Sure son, I think it's more to many people's thought's at once.' He thought to me. I looked over and him. 'Are you glad he's back?' He asked me. I walked over and filled up my cup.

"Yes, I'm glad. But I don't know what it's going to be like. I go back to work Monday and he works for the friends." My dad nodded and looked over at me.

'You're worried that he will leave and not come back?' He asked me. I thought about it.

"Not really our friends think I'm too needed to get on my bad side. Should I have looked sooner?" I asked him.

'Son you did what you needed to do, you are too much like your mother. She's always done what she's needed to do. The fact that you didn't do anything doesn't mean anything.' He thought to me. I nodded and looked back out the window.

'You might want to stop answering your father's mind, Taylor's listening.' Sara said. I looked back and saw my dad watching me. He followed my eyes and smiled.

'They came in and got coffee a while ago. Chris is with them.' I nodded and filled up my cup. Then walked into the family room.

"You seemed lost there." Sam asked me.

"Didn't sleep very well." I told them and sat down. Sam looked worried at once. Chris looked over at me. I shrugged and leaned back.

"That's a pretty cool fish tank." I looked back and nodded.

"My dad built it in when he built the house. It was filled when we moved in. there's some pretty cool things in it. I like the sea horses." I saw Chris smiled.

'So when's breakfast ready?' Taylor asked me. I shrugged.

"Whenever my dad's done cooking." I looked back at him and he was smiling at me. Sam was starting at me. Chris was worried, but he held off. I sat back and looked at him. His mind was wide open for me to read in to.

"My guard isn't always up while I'm home. A lot of people around and most of them get into my mind. When did you start to notice." I asked him and his mind was answering for me.

"Your very inurned to Sam at first I thought it was because of the time you've been together or really that you were together. But then I started noticing the little things. So you can read minds?" He asked me. I thought about it. Sat forward and held out my hand. He looked at it. I took a drink and waited. He took my hand.

Slowly so I wouldn't over lode his mind I started pushing all the important information about Sara towards him. His eyes stayed open and I watched him. He never tried to take his hand back. When I was done I linked with him.

'Most of my abilities are mental. But first of all, yes I can read minds.' He thought about it.

'You made me stop thinking about Ricky robbing a bank.' I laughed and moved my hand back.

"Yes, it was to centered in your mind and it wasn't anything that needed to be thought about. Frist my dad would stop him, next you really need Julia for Ricky to be able to do the work. But I would just buy a bank if I wanted to play with the money." He thought about it.

"That's pretty cool."

"I'm telling," Emily said and pocked her head in the room. In the blink of an eye she was sitting on Chris's lap.

"Be nice, baby girl." Taylor just was blown away. He was looking everywhere trying to figure it out.

"Taylor you'll get used to it. Emily I never really understood yours." Sam told her. Emily thought about it and lifted her hand. She formed a fire ball and bounced it. Then it was gone. She smirked and slowly starting at her head she changed forms. I looked at her and listened to the house.

"Sara's home?" I asked her. She shook her head no. I looked at her listening. "You've advanced?" She nodded and smiled at me shifting back.

"That's my tricks of the day, I'm going to eat." She hopped up and walked away. Chris was looking at his hand.

"Emily takes the pure power and uses it. Sara doesn't shirt like that. Emily likes the difference. Weather you can do something she can throw your powers doesn't mean anything. Truthfully she can't use my powers without her mind over loading. Because my mind opens more with each time my powers advance, her's don't." He looked at his hand longer thinking about it. Then his hand light up.

'I've never been able to pull it away like she can.' He said to me. I looked at Sam and nodded out of the room. I moved over to the table and sat on it.

"Babe, she uses pure power. She doesn't have to learn powers. There just there." He was fighting with his powers. I fisted my hand thinking about it. Then I moved it closer to his and lowered it into the his. It took seconds for the fire to disappear.

"Peter." He said looking at me like I was out of my mind. I grabbed his hand in mine and looked at him.

'Are you out of your mind.' He was pissed off.

'Why were you given your powers?" I asked him. He didn't understand and looked at me. "Chris everyone had a reason, everyone's powers were given for a reason. Now what was yours?" He looked at me and didn't understand. I got up and waved him with me. Really I pulled him with me. I pushed opened the hidden door and walked in. He followed me in and didn't understand. I took us to the hidden room and turned on the lights.

"This room held everything on the crash and we still don't know why we crashed or why we have the powers. When we hit the water all I wanted in the world was to know what you thought about us. Yes there were more in my mind, but that was it. Dad wanted to live for mom, he didn't want her to have to worry any longer. Mom just loves and wants to help everyone. Ricky never wanted to lost Julia. Julia wanted everyone to stop watching her every move. She wanted to just be able to live her life without everyone watching her. Sara was easy, she wanted to have fun and do what was needed at the same time. Max has always wanted to learn everything. Lily hated being small and wanted to have things come to her. Steven wanted to be the best at sports and little Emily didn't want anything but to be happy with family. She was given a way to have everything and protect herself. So what were you thinking?" He didn't know the answer.

"That was more than 10 years ago." I nodded and waited for him. Finely he gave up. I turned him towards me and looked him in the eyes. He opened his mind for me and I cupped his face. Once I found the memory I brought it forth and let him watch it. It was the plane as we were going down. Chris was watching me the whole time.

"I wanted to protect you." He said finely. "I didn't want to lose you and I want to protect you. I joined the army to grow up, somehow I wanted to be able to be like your dad." He told me.

"What happened Chris, what really happened." I asked him. The scan around us changed and we were standing in the jungle. Chris was standing there with a gun. It didn't take long till fire came out of nowhere. Chris was covered in it and he dropped to the ground. You could see where he melted the gun. Then Diesel showed up. He looked around and was worried. The closer Diesel got the higher the fire got. He pulled out his phone and two men showed up. They got control of Chris and Diesel moved all of them into a room. Chris just light up even more.

"How long were you there?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I don't know, it took me a while thought to bring the fire back down. Then everything set me off for a while. When I was in control, it was easy to lose it again. You saw it's still hard." He told me. I cupped the back of his neck and kissed him.

"You saw what happened. I wasn't hurt by you, you wanted to protect me Chris. You wanted to be able to do that and you can. Let me chose, Chris. You won't hurt me."

"I could." He said.

"Chris I can hurt you also. I can do things you wouldn't even think of. Let me decided." He looked at me a long time trying to think about his answer. "I love you babe, if you walk away now I will not forgive you." I told him. His face changed.

"I wouldn't leave. I would never leave again like that. But you have to know I could hurt you." I moved closer to him and kissed him.

"Babe I can do the same to you." He kissed me back.

"Incoming, close up the room." Emily said and walked out of the room. I followed her and pulled Chris with me. I turned off the lights and closed the door behind us. We headed into the kitchen and Diesel was there. I knew at once he was there for me. I nodded and filled up my coffee cup.

"Come on." I said and walked back out. My dad wasn't happy about this. I walked us into the living room and shut the door behind him. We sat down and I looked at him. He looked at me.

"Normally the wait time between you needed my help is longer. How could the earth be coming to an end already." I asked him. He looked at me some time more than brushed his hair back.

"You said you would own me a favor, I'm taking that as you would own me personal. I have a problem and I need help to solve it." He told me. I sat forward and looked his face over while I listened to his brain.

"You really want my help finding a lost super?" I asked him.

"This isn't a lost super, this super has been hidden away. No one knows where and he's needed."

"No you need him, no one wants to find him because he's a risk. Why would you want me to find him?"

"I need him," He was giving me the whole picture. I leaned back and rubbed my face.

"You need him to help you keep your place. Why do you think he would help you?"

"Gordon is my grandfather." I was surprised. But that would make me think he would help me also. He waited and gave me time to think.

"Dad," I called out and waited. The door opened and dad walked in. He sat down and folded his arms. "The only way Diesel can still protect our family and stay where he is with the friends is for me to find someone who was hidden away." He looked at me for a long time.

"There's more." I nodded and just looked at him waiting to catch on. Dad got up and walked out. Diesel watched everything and looked at me.

"You can speck in other people's minds." I shook my head.

"I can't like I can listen. Dad knows where I was going with what I need." It didn't take long for my mom to walk in and sit in the coffee table facing him.

"We'll help but you won't take anything away from this beside the person. You will have the whole family after you if you do. Do you understand me."

"Yes, but why would Peter helping me change anything." He asked. She got up and walked out. But gave me a look. I waited and Emily skipped in and the doors closed behind her and she sat down looking at me.

"So what kind of fun do I get to have?" She asked me.

"I need help finding a man." She nodded and already know that. I sat my coffee down and got up. I waved Diesel up and moved us to the side of the room. I picked his mind and pulled up the picture. A man was standing by the doors.

"Emily do you need more?" She got up and walked around the man. She moved back and huffed.

"Yes," I rolled my neck and changed the image. It was little gimps of the man using his powers. She took everything in.

"Daddy." She yelled and waved her hand at me to keep replaying the screen. Our dad walked in with a map. He hang it on the wall and moved back. She glared at the map. Then her shoulders dropped and she looked over at me worried.

"I can't." She told me.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never felt something like this. It's like I know and don't know at the same time. Someone very powerful must be hiding him." She was very worried. "Someone I've never felt before. Someone older then this man. Yes he's powerful but someone worse." She was very worried.

"Who locked him away?" I asked Diesel. He was blown away.

"I could tell you where all the powerful ones are. Maybe once I get there flavors I could find out." She said and the map light up. I moved over and looked the map over. There was a bright spot over where we live. I pointed to it.

"Who is it?"

"Well your more powerful than most supers, then there is myself of course and another in the area." She kind of ran that one in there. I moved closer to her and tried to get into her mind.

"Sorry I can't allow that. My power doesn't give me the right to tell on people. It's there to protect myself. Now the rang of powers." She said looking at the map and most the lights went out. Slowly all the lights went out besides three. The one where we were, one in asia and one in California.

"Wow Peter your that powerful. So is the other super in the area. That's good to know. So the two men we're looking for are here and here. When do we leave?" She asked me.

"Soon, but you might want to get dressed, how close is this other super?" I asked her.

'Closer than you think.' She thought and walked away. I picked throw her brain really fast.

"Emily." I yelled after her. "Stay here." I told Diesel and walked out. In the kitchen was Chris, Sam and Taylor. Chris got up and walked out when I nodded to the door. I filled up my cup and took a drink.

"Love would you mind stepping out really fast." I asked her, she got up and walked out. I walked over and shut the door.

"It's not wise to hide anything right now." I told him and walked over to him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me.

"Because if you hide anything or fight, it will hurt." I said and laid my hand against his head. I took my time and slowly moved into his mind and started getting everything. When I found what I was looking for I moved my hand off his head and moved away.

"You're a super." I said giving him a look. He gave me a look.

"Peter, I'm not what every you think I am." He really meant it. I pulled a chair and sat down facing him.

"Taylor within my powers I can see everything in your life. I didn't go far, but I went far enough to see that you do have powers. You have powers." He looked at me like I was out of my mind.

"Wouldn't I know that?" He asked me and I nodded.

"It's not something you wouldn't know. But Taylor you have powers. You are a super." He gave me a look like I was out of my mind.

"No I'm not, I would know you just said that. I don't know so I'm not. Maybe you need to get yourself checked out. Because I don't have anything special. I'm a writer and most the time what I write is good. Your wrong." I nodded and saw he was going to fight me.

This was why Emily wouldn't tell me. She knew he didn't know he had powers. But how could he be as powerful as he is and he didn't even know he had powers. I looked out the window thinking.

"Peter what did you do?" Sam said when she walked in. I looked over at her and she was standing with her arms folded. I turned and looked back out the window thinking.

"Why does he move so much?" I heard Chris ask Sam.

"So you noticed he's not just looking at the view. Peter zoon's out when he looks out the window. Mostly he's looking at the sky and it clam's him. When the view no longer is clamming he'll move. I'm surprised he hasn't wanted to move buildings yet." She told him.

"Why is he tense here?" He asked her.

"Besides the fact he's not always here I don't really know."

"Peter's to intone with us and because he's not always here, he hears all of us." My mom told them.

"I'm always around."

"You are honey, but you are clamming to him. I'm sure it would be the same way to him if you were apart for a white. He has to get a hold of us thoughts and start to block them out. Julia is who he learns on. She helps him block out other's thoughts because he really doesn't want to know what she's thinking. Chris on the other hand, dose something else."

"I never really thought about what i was doing. But i can stop my thoughts." I looked over at him. They were around the island with drinks. He smiled at me. 'I didn't know i was doing it babe. When i started working on my powers i learned that i could freeze anything even a thought.'

"I need to see the rest." I said and i knew the person who could help me was listening. Emily is a full mix of both of our parents. She needed to see everything throw.

"Are you sure?" She said and pecked into the kitchen.

"Yes." She skipped into the kitchen and looked my face over. She came over to the table and leaned against it.

"That's more than you've done before isn't it?" I shook my head no.

"I've pushed more than you would know Emily." She put her head on her hands and shook he head no.

'I've been listening and watching since you brought him home with you. Peter he's different and i believe he is a real super. You have never pushed a super before. They have all been mortals.' She thought to me. I looked at the wall and knew Diesel was still here. 'No' She said. I got up and walked into the living room. My dad and Diesel were sitting there looking at each other.

"Son?" My dad asked me. I brushed my hair back and shut the door in front of Emily. I moved over and sat on the coffee table. I was facing Diesel thinking about what i needed to say.

"I need to know who Taylor really is. To do that I need to push him, for me to do that i need to know i can." He just looked at me.

"Your point?" He asked me.

"I've seen into super's mind, I've never pushed a super before." He still just looked at me.

"What's your point." He asked me again. I watched his eyes move away from me and I had to smile. Chris joined in our party.

"I need you to let me push your mind." He folded his arms and leaned back.

"What are you saying, Peter what are you asking."

"A push can be done in many ways. I want to push your memory center of your brain. I won't be taking anything out or put anything in. I will be viewing what's there. It's like watching a movie for me, but it's done in a very fast pace that most people wouldn't even be able to handle. That's one of the reason i had a problem with it at the start because my brain could only take in some of the images. But i've trained my mind to see everything. I need to know i can to be able to do it on someone who might not be willing." He looked over at the map thinking about it.

"All because he's your partner's boyfriend?"

"No because Taylor is a super and he doesn't even know, he doesn't know he had any powers. I need to find out who he really is and why he doesn't know. Most likely i will have to do it with others, there are still two other dot's on that map." He nodded and was thinking about it. I heard what he was thinking.

"I can't remove or add thought's when i push to see." He didn't believe me. I smiled and looked behind me. Chris was thinking about it. He nodded and came over. I stood up and put my hand on the back of his head and pushed into the memory core.

I saw everything that had ever happened in his life. But when I was there they stood out. He slipped his hand in mind and watched what i did. We got to watch the past together.

"What's he doing?"

"Peter and Chris are linked on top of Peter pushing. Chris is seeing what Peter is seeing. He's slowed down so Chris can follow along. Son it might be wise to let him see what's going to happen." We were into Chris's child hood. He moved his hand away and would allow it now. I rubbed my fingers together and gave it to Diesel. He got to watched what i was seeing.

When we got to his tolled years. it was jumpy, because you don't always remember everything from those years. I pulled back and nodded to Chris. I've pushed his too far and he needed a minute. In no time at all he froze everyone and un froze me. His hand on was on his head and he was trying to clam down and forget the past.

"Babe?" He just stood there. I moved closer to him and looked him in the eyes. Slowly i pushed all the thoughts that hurt him back in his thoughts. He was watching me and clam. I smiled and kissed him.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I asked."

"Babe she was my mom, no matter what reliving it will hurt. Thank you." He leaned down and kissed me softly. I slipped my hand in his and showed him what i liked the best when i looked into the past. I felt him smile.

I smiled and liked ever since when he was watching me. He did that a lot and i never even noticed. He would watch me when we were younger. I let him pull back and looked him in the eye.

"Like i said babe you could fall asleep in seconds."

"No wonder you never did your homework." I moved back and just like that everyone was back.

"Alright, but if you do something to my mind." I smiled and moved around to the back of the couch. I put my hand on his head and started pushing. Even as fast as i could push it still took me some time. Chris caught me as I fall.

"How far did you get?" My dad asked.

"Right after you two went at it the first time." He said and Chris let me lean him against him. My dad nodded and knew how far back I went.

"You saw Julia's whole like in a second." Chris told me.

"I lost control. It's different and I don't have any control." I looked over at the door and Sara was still standing there. Slowly i got up and walked out of the room. Sara was smiling at me.

"I told you," She said and looked at me.

"How then?"

"You have to lose control. Then in that second you need to touch who you want to read. You don't have the power yet to do it on your own. You need to learn how to drop your control to do this."

"Can you get me to lose control?" She shrugged.

"I've been thinking about it. I think if i over lode your brain it might do it." I moved to the back doors and looked out them thinking about everything. It's easy to get over loaded by thought thoughts. I nodded and looked at her.

"Alright," I smiled and knew this would work. Emily smiled at me and knew i was going to do it. Chris was leaning against the doors watching me. Sam walked in and stopped. She saw me and shook her head.

"No what ever your thinking i want you to forget it. No." She said and meant it. Chris smiled and knew i wouldn't back down.

"Love will you please go get your boyfriend." She throw up her hands and walked away.

"Alright Chris i need you to move behind him and be ready to catch him. I need you to close down your mind. Once he starts to fall froze him. Have Taylor come in and stop next to him. Un froze him and have them touch. One second and you're going to need to froze everyone." He nodded and moved over to me. Emily rolled her neck.


	33. Chapter 33

I watched Emily roll her neck and move closer to Peter. What was she going to do. I started calming down my brain. She nodded to me when I blanked out my mind. She looked at Peter and really focused on him. Peter hissed and his knees gave out. I froze him.

"Here you go." Sam started to say and I froze her. Peter was looking at us like we lost our mind. I froze Taylor and Emily moved him right over to Peter. I thought about it as I looked them over. Then waved my hand at all three. "What?" Sam said. But I was watching Taylor and Peter.

Peter's hand brushed Taylor's arm. He gasp again. Taylor backed up a step. I looked at Peter and he was already falling. I caught him and laid him on the ground.

"Daddy." Emily screamed.

"Babe." I said tapping Peter's face. He didn't respond. I ran my hand down his chest and felt his heart. It wasn't beating. Ranger showed up and Emily moved me out of the way. She held me back and I watched Ranger check out Peter.

"Baby just a little." He said. Emily moved around me and tapped him on the chest. I watched his body jerk. Three times later Peter gasped for breath. But he didn't wake up. Ranger picked him up and walked out of the kitchen. I hurried and got up and followed him out.

"Ranger." I said once Peter was laying on his bed.

"Give him a little bit Chris. His mind needs to reload to everything he was given. He'll come around soon." I looked at Peter and didn't believe him. He just cupped my shoulder and walked out. I sat on the bed and brushed Peter's hair back.

"Babe." I sat there watching him. I didn't want to touch him in case he was picking up my thoughts.

He jumped awake before I was ready and I caught him. He laid his head against my shoulder and held my arm as he caught his breath. I cupped his head and held him. He shook his head and I knew he was trying to clear it. I rubbed his back giving him time.

"Babe?" I asked him softly.

"That was a shit load of information." He said still holding onto me.

"I've got you, clam down babe. Just work throw everything." I said when his breath picked up again. He nodded and calmed down while he worked throw everything he took in. He started leaning against me, now he was laying against me. I looked down and saw he was asleep.

"I'm still awake." He told me. I couldn't help it I started laughing. He pulled back and kissed me.

"As much as I wish to stay. It's dinner time." He smirked at me and we got up. I pulled him back against me and kept my arm around him while we walked out of his room. "You cannot do that again." I told him.

"Yes I can and yes I will. Don't worry babe." I rolled my eyes at him. We walked into the kitchen and saw Steph was cooking. She looked over at us and smiled.

"Go tell everyone Dinner is ready." She waved us out. We did what she asked and headed back to the kitchen. Sam was glad to see Peter was fine. Taylor wasn't any different. Diesel was even sitting at the table. He was still worried, but talking with Emily about her powers.

"Where's Steven and Lily?" Peter asked.

"They are at a team dinner." Steph said. I didn't understand why Lily would be there. "She's a cheerleader." I nodded and understood. Lily would make a great cheerleader also. When almost everyone was done eating Peter leaned against me.

"Diesel why don't you know who the other two dots are?" Peter asked him. Diesel looked down at Peter and I could see he was thinking about it. "Emily can't be the only person who has the power to find supers or locate them."

"She's not, the man in China is a monk and left are government about 100 years ago. He doesn't want anything to do with us anymore and protects himself for visitors. The woman who is the other dot, holds the seat on within out government. I didn't know you were as powerful as you are. Or Emily for that matter." Peter shook his head.

"Emily isn't the other dot Peter. Stand alone her powers are weaker then Max's. Why'd the monk leave?" Peter asked.

"He didn't like how the government was acting. While he held his sit he did and dose believe in peace. His powers are in healing and with the earth." Diesel told him.

"And the woman?" Peter asked him.

"I don't know. She doesn't show herself offend. The only reason I know Raz is because I was put on his case when he left. Who's the other person that's as strong as you are in your family." Diesel asked him. I looked at Peter and saw him smile. He looked at Taylor and Taylor rolled his eyes.

"That was a nice trick you have Peter. Do you know asking me would have worked also." Taylor said. Everyone was looking at him now. "But your wrong about your lovely sister, she is quite powerful all on her own. She though clocks herself, that's why she didn't show up on your map or on anyone reader."

"Thank you, it took a while for me to perfect it so I didn't have to do it myself." Emily said. I was lost.

"Your very welcome little one. I have never seen someone with your advanced skills before. Being able to find me is surprising and upsetting."

"Don't worry, I never plan to work for the supers." Taylor laughed softly and shook his head.

"Let's explain to everyone else what they're missing shall we. I am Taylor Dorsey, as you well know. But I was born Gordon Smithson. Since I was born a Smith's son." He told everyone. Everyone looked at him. "I am also Smith's grandfather."

"Smith?" Steph asked. Diesel did not look happy.

"He never liked his name, Diesel is what he choices to go by. Never understood why."

"It's better than Smith." Diesel said in a cold voice.

"Why did you go into hiding?" Ranger asked Taylor.

"I agreed with Raz on how the super's were acting. We supported each other and it caused a split within the elder's or the sit members of the government. A fight would have been dangerous. I allowed other's to think I was dead as Raz left and hid himself also. There are still many who stand with us in how we think. May today are hiding like we are. Eva is a wicked woman." He said and waved his fingers.

"How could you go into hiding?" Steph asked him. He smirked and leaned back with his glass of wine. He took a drink.

"There is a hermit that has the power to hid a being. He can pull one's power out of them and put a clock over them. That keeps the powers at bay alone with hiding us from though who are looking for us. At the same time he can do the same think with one's mind. I have my own power to change my body. I've never aged over the age 30." He told us.

"You changed your looks. Had your mind wiped and your powers pulled out of you all to save yourself." Diesel asked him.

"No all to save the supers that follow me. It lasts 5 to 20 years, depending on the life I live. Raz on the other hands has the powers to protect himself. He wasn't as wanting to Eva as I was." Peter smiled.

"He also wasn't her lover." Peter said. Taylor waved his fingers again.

"That shouldn't even matter, it's been quite some time and she was the one to end things." Sam was sitting there.

"How long ago?" She asked him. Taylor looked down at her and smiled.

"Around 200 years. Believe it or not you my dear have been the first woman to pull me to them. Your spark for life is beyond anything I've seen before. It's breath taking." She folded her arms.

"You told Peter he could have asked?"

"Yes there are many trigger I've sent inside the wipe. If he would have asked me if I was Gordon I would have remember who I was in a second. Then I might have respond. Maybe not, reliving my life was worth it." He said as he was thinking about it. "Why did you want to find me?" He looked at Peter.

"Diesel needs your help. Since he watches over the family, I agreed to help him." Peter told me. Taylor looked at Diesel.

"You need my help. That is very hard to believe." He took a drink. Sam looked at him. He really was pulled into her. He just looked at her. "How did you get past my clock little one?"

"She found you throw your powers. Not throw you." Peter told him. He nodded and brushed Sam's hair to the side. Then tipped her under the chin and winked at her. Just like that they were gone.

"Where did they go?" Diesel yelled and jumped up. Peter smiled and stood up.

"He left to allow them a chance to speck. He is very much taken by her. It's worse than dad and mom." He told everyone while taking his plate to the skin.

"We'll remember him to bring my glass back." Steph said.

"I'll return it if he forgets. Diesel why does he believe you wouldn't ask him for help?" Peter leaned against the island. Everyone started cleaning up after themselves. Diesel folded his arms and he clearly was pissed off.

"I told him I would never need his help." Ranger looked down at him and shook his head. "Gordon came to me before he left. He explained what he was going to do and why. Told me if I ever needed help I should go see someone and that person would find him. I didn't remember who I needed to find. That's why I'm here. But while he was leaving I told him I would never need him because he's a. We'll mostly I called him a loser. He's always been peace and that bull shit." Diesel said.

"And yet you need him." Diesel let out a breath and brushed his hair back.

"Gordon might be after peace but he's powerful and feared. I also came to see why he was after the case he was after. I need him to come back." I looked at Peter.

"You're asking your grandfather and all his followers to put themselves on the line to protect your ass. What did you do?" Peter asked him. Diesel stood up again.

"I'm allowing you not to come in." Diesel yelled at Peter.

"Then it's a good thing you're here." Peter smirked at him.

"Son?" Ranger said.

"Emily clocks the house. It's safer for him to be here than anywhere while he's dealing with this shit. Nothing can start to be planed till after Taylor and Sam return. Getting all the facts is needed though." Everyone looked at Diesel.

"Let's clean up and give Diesel some time to collect his though. Like Peter said nothing can be done how." Steph said and walked out with Diesel. I got up and cleaned up after myself. Ranger finished up the table and kitchen. I walked outside and Peter caught the door.

"Babe?" He asked me. I moved over to the swing and sat down. He leaned against me after I put my arm around him. Then he handed over my pack of smokes. I took one and light it. When I exhaled I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"What's he hiding?" I asked.

"He's worried. I've never been able to get a lot off him. Taylor on the other hand is a open book." I nodded and looked at him. His eyes were closed also and head was laying against me.

"Tired?" I asked him. He just nodded. "Come on." I flicked the cherry off my smoke and pulled him inside. We headed up stairs and got into bed. He was asleep as soon as he laid down.

"Babe," I said when she walked into my office.

"Sara and Zoe need to come home. I don't want something to happen to them while they are away."

"I know babe. But let's find out what's happening first." She sat on me and looked my face over. "I'm worried about them also. But let's not jump ahead of ourselves just yet."

*** I don't want this to be the end of the story, but I've head a dead end with it. I was moving onto Sara and Zoe next. ****


End file.
